


Fix You

by lionhart



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Abuse, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Love, Plot, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-08
Updated: 2014-01-17
Packaged: 2017-12-28 20:33:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 51,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/996296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionhart/pseuds/lionhart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>High School AU where Annie is the new girl who just transferred. She's hiding her troubled life from the world and is misunderstood by the other pupils. The only person who seems to want to befriend her is a sweet boy named Armin Arlert. Armin/Annie, strong language will be used at times.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Hey Eren, could you be a little more careful?" Armin's words went unheard as he scrambled to pick up his fallen book. It had been knocked off his desk by none other than Eren Jaeger and Jean Kirschtein, fighting again. The two were often seen to be at odds and it was becoming quite tiring for Armin to keep up, so he just tried to ignore them by reading his book before his homeroom teacher arrived, though it looked like he couldn't even do that in peace. Eren and Jean were shouting pretty loudly and had the majority of the class' attention. Mikasa Ackerman, Eren Jaeger's adoptive sister, was one step away from intervening before the teacher arrived and the two boys stopped.

"Eren, Jean, why are you the only two out of your seats? I hope you weren't fighting again" Mr Hannes warned, becoming bored with their antics.

"No sir." Eren muttered, taking a seat beside Mikasa who shook her head. Despite being annoyed with their behaviour, she did have a relieved look on her face because she didn't want Eren to wind up in detention again. His mother was already angry enough at him as it was.

"What he said." Jean gritted his teeth, taking a seat beside Marco Bodt.

"Good!" Mr Hannes smiled, "Now that I seem to have everyone's full attention, I have something to announce." at that, Hannes turned his attention to the door and said, "You can come in now, Annie."

A girl of short stature and light blonde hair that was tied back into a sloppy bun stepped into the room. She was wearing a white hoodie and loose jeans, Armin noticed that she had long bangs which were put to one side of her face, almost completely covering her eye. She had a large nose, but it didn't look obscene, in fact it suited her quite nicely.

"This is Annie Leonhardt, she just transferred here. Now kids, I want you to make her feel welcome, okay?" Hannes smiled. The class began to buzz with light chitter-chatter.

"Why would someone transfer in the middle of semester? That's just weird." Connie Springer said just a bit too loudly.

"Right! Annie, would you like to say anything about yourself in front of the class?" Hannes looked down towards Annie, whose expression looked sour.

"No." she said bluntly.

Armin thought it was strange that she didn't wish to introduce herself, but maybe she was just shy? Other members in the class whispered a little more and Armin knew they probably weren't whispering nice things about the new girl. She hadn't exactly given the best first impression of herself, and at this school first impressions were _everything_.

"Ok," Hannes was slightly surprised by the girl's reaction and moved on quickly. "Let's find you a seat then". He scanned the room for an open seat, like most classrooms, the desks were arranged in twos. The only person who sat next to an empty desk was Armin.

One of the main disadvantages of being in a trio was that one person was always sort of the third wheel. More and more frequently these days Armin seemed to feel like that, especially since it seemed that Mikasa was beginning to develop feelings for Eren. Eren of course was oblivious to this, the only people who noticed were Armin and Jean. Jean noticed because he had a huge crush on Mikasa, and this was probably one of the key reasons to why Eren and Jean were always fighting.

"You can go and sit beside Arlert, over there." Hannes pointed towards the blond boy's direction.

Armin suddenly felt his heart race, feeling nervous as the new girl approached him. She didn't really seem that friendly at all, then again, Armin believed in giving people a chance. _Never judge a book by its cover_ , he reminded himself. People were often more deeper than they first appeared. When Annie sat down she didn't even bother to look at him, that much he expected.

"H-hi there, I'm Armin Arlert." The girl barely turned her head as she let out an almost inaudible sound of recognition. Armin didn't expect that, or maybe he did. Either way, he instantly felt uncomfortable. _This is going to be…interesting_. He wanted to try and make the best of the situation and although he knew little to nothing about her, he had a feeling there was definitely a lot more to this girl than met the eye.

Throughout the whole fifteen minutes of homeroom, Annie did not speak or as much as even look at Armin. He on the other hand, kept glancing at her from the corner of his eye. Armin was quite proud of his ability to be able to read people and he wanted to see if he could figure Annie out, but without her actually noticing. When the class finally ended, Hannes made his way over to the pair before they had a chance to leave.

"Armin, would you be so kind to show Annie around today? I gather you've got to know a little bit about each other in today's class."

Armin smiled awkwardly at Hannes, but nodded, "Sure."

"Don't look so glum Annie, Armin is a wonderful boy." Hannes smiled at Annie who had the same sour expression on her face as she had when she was standing in the front of the class. It was an _'I don't want to be here'_ type of face and was making Armin feel more uneasy by the minute. Everyone had left the class in the meantime, and as Hannes walked out of the door, Annie headed out leaving Armin behind.

"Hey w-wait," he called out to her.

"I don't need a babysitter." she muttered.

"I know but…we can compare timetables can't we? Maybe we share—"

"If you're not stupid, you'll leave me alone." Annie cut him off with an irritated tone in her voice and scowled at him. The look she gave him made Armin feel extremely intimidated and scared. She disappeared around a corner and he was left standing still and completely dumbfounded.

_She's small but she's fierce…_


	2. Chapter 2

It was almost the end of the week and it turned out that Annie Leonhardt was in all of Armin's classes, _just my luck_ , Armin had thought at first. Annie obviously didn't like him at all, but Armin wasn't the only exception. The new girl didn't seem to like anyone. In all of their classes she had completely isolated herself. She gave off an extremely defensive vibe and because of this, barely anyone even tried to approach her. Somewhere inside, a part of Armin was sort of glad that she was in all of his classes. He didn't really understand why he was glad but he thought he might as well go along with it rather than question it. Perhaps it was because he got the feeling that she was hiding behind a face and he wanted to know more about the real her. Whatever it was, he couldn't seem to get her off of his mind.

"The new girl is sort of weird, isn't she?" Eren said while blatantly staring in her direction. Annie sat alone on a table next to the window. Her eyes were fixated with the world outside, completely ignoring everyone. It didn't look like she had any food with her, except for a can of coke.

"Eren, don't stare." Mikasa prodded, Eren turned back to the table and took a large bite out of his sandwich.

"She is a bit strange…I guess, but I think she's just feeling a bit lonely?" Armin defended her. He didn't like it when people were quick to judge others. He had encountered a fair share of bullies in his time so he knew how it felt.

"Lonely? Then why hasn't she made an effort to make friends?" Eren shared the majority of Armin's classes and therefore had witnessed Annie's antisocial behaviour over the past week.

"Maybe she's shy." Armin looked down to his food. He didn't really get the impression that shyness was Annie's problem but then again, he hadn't had the opportunity to speak with her since her first day just after homeroom. He wanted to ask her again if she needed any help getting around, as Hannes had instructed him to do so, but he didn't get any welcoming vibes from her and thought it was best to just leave her alone. He had glanced at her a couple of times and smiled at her, but he got nothing in return.

"I think she's on a diet. I haven't once seen her eat anything since she started here." Mikasa observed.

Armin noticed that she didn't have any food with her once again, and felt concerned, "That's silly, she doesn't need to be on one."

"Well you know what chicks are like." Eren signalled to Mikasa.

"Eren, since when have I been on a diet?" she looked vaguely annoyed by the comment.

"You always eat so healthily!"

"That's not the same as being on a diet." Mikasa turned her face away from Eren and sipped her drink elegantly.

"Whatever. Hey, Armin why don't you go over there and talk to the new girl?"

"M-me? But why?" Armin questioned, suddenly becoming nervous at the thought of approaching Annie.

"I don't know, you seem to care about her" Eren began munching on a chocolate bar, acting as if it wasn't really a big deal.

Armin sat and thought about it, maybe he should go over there. He could offer her some of his food if she wanted it, it's not like she needed to be on a diet and he wasn't exactly all that hungry.

"Ok, I'll…I'll do it." Armin stood up from his seat.

Eren watched him with his mouth hanging open, "Good luck" he said in encouragement. He didn't really expect Armin to do it, even Mikasa seemed surprised, but didn't attempt to stop him. If it had been Eren, she probably would have protested against the idea.

Armin grabbed one half of his sandwich to give to the girl and slowly began to walk towards Annie's direction. He felt his legs becoming increasingly weak as he got closer. She hadn't seen him, because she was staring out of the window. When he finally reached her, he placed a gentle hand on top of her shoulder to get her attention.

Annie visibly flinched and turned around sharply to face him, for the briefest of moments her crystal blue eyes expressed fear. It was only for a split second though, because her expression quickly turned into an intimidating glare, "What?" she spat out.

"I—" Armin was rendered speechless. Annie's eyes were piercing right through him. After a few moments he managed to compose himself, "I-I don't think you need to be on a d-diet…you're perfect how you are…" Armin suddenly blushed crimson at what he had just said, "I mean…here" he then handed her his sandwich, "You c-can have it if you want…"

Annie's glare softened just slightly but did not completely disappear as she looked down to what was in Armin's hands. She looked back up at him suspiciously, "I don't understand."

"W-well, my friends and I noticed that you haven't got any food with you…" Armin felt awkward, it seemed like he was a stalker now.

"Is that any of your business?" he could tell that Annie was angry at him for invading her space.

"N-no." Armin admitted. It wasn't any of his business. She was right to question him.

"Then get out of my sight." Annie turned away and took a sip out of the can of coke she had.

If she was going to be true to herself, she had to admit that she was really hungry, heck she hadn't eaten all day. However, she wasn't about to take a sandwich from a stranger. He wasn't a complete stranger though, she recognised the kid from her homeroom and all of her classes, _Armin Arlert_. He seemed like a sweet type of boy, _a sucker_ , Annie thought. No, she wouldn't accept his food, why was he even offering it to her anyway? Hadn't she made it clear enough that she didn't want anything to do with anyone at this school? Obviously not because he was still standing there, " ** _What_** do you want?" she raised her voice and turned to him, this time she was glaring at the blond even more fiercely.

Armin frowned, he decided against saying anything back to her, instead he just left the sandwich on the table. He walked back to Eren and Mikasa who had watched the scene unfold. Armin had to admit he felt weak after that encounter.

"What happened?" Eren asked, unsure of exactly what went down.

"Oh, she seemed mad…but I left the sandwich there for her if she wanted it. I think she wants to be alone." Armin explained.

"Ugh, some chicks." Eren said and stood up, Mikasa soon followed.

Armin followed his friends out of the cafeteria, but just before leaving he paused at the door to look back at Annie. He saw that she was biting into the sandwich he had left for her. He felt strangely satisfied seeing her eating it and couldn't help smile to himself. It looked like she wasn't as tough as she first let on after all.


	3. Chapter 3

The last day of the week had finally arrived and Annie was missing. Armin had been looking forward to seeing her that morning in homeroom, but she didn't show up. He felt disappointed, more disappointed than he knew he should have been. He wanted to tease her lightly by asking her if she had enjoyed the sandwich yesterday, he would have loved to have seen the look on her face. She was so pretty and he yearned to see her smile, or at the very least show any emotion other than the bored, blank expression she usually held, or anger when irritated. Thinking about it, if the opportunity had arose he doubted he would have had the guts to tease her. Nevertheless, he would have liked to at least ask her how she was doing, even if he did only expect a curt reply or even just a glare.

"You okay, Armin?" Eren asked as they walked to science class together. It was already third period and no sign of Annie. He doubted she was going to be coming into school today.

"Huh, oh yeah, I'm fine." Armin sounded unconvincing. His mind was elsewhere and he hadn't put much effort into pretending to sound like he was actually okay.

"Are you thinking about that new girl?" Eren teased.

Armin suddenly blushed, _what the hell_. "No…why would you think that?" Eren was right though. It was all because of Annie, or rather the lack of Annie. Eren had been Armin's best friend since he was five years old, he knew Armin pretty well, even if he wasn't the observant one of the two.

"Because she hasn't showed up today."

"R-really? I hadn't noticed…" Armin lied through his teeth.

"Don't bullshit me, Armin. To be honest, I think the girl is bad news and you're better off not even bothering with her. She looks like she's capable of beating the shit out of all of us, even though she's so short. Why don't you just try going for one of the cute girls, like Christa?"

Armin frowned, he felt offended by Eren's words. He knew that Eren was just trying to help, but he was accomplishing the exact opposite of that. Just yesterday he was encouraging him to go and talk to her and now this? And was he implying that Annie wasn't cute? "You don't even know her" Armin rebutted, he rarely got angry, especially with Eren, but this was an exception.

Eren scoffed, "Neither do you."

Armin turned to Eren who looked smug, Armin's eyes were wide in defeat. He wanted to dispute Eren and tell him he was wrong but he couldn't because what he said was true: he didn't know Annie.

"Why the sudden change in attitude? Yesterday you told me to go and talk to her at lunch!"

"I've heard _things_ about her since then."

"What _things_?" Armin mimicked Eren's tone, becoming increasingly sceptical but at the same time curious.

"Well Mikasa mentioned that Annie didn't bother showing up to gym class all week, meaning she's a slacker. Also, this morning in math I heard Jean and the others talking about her."

"….And what did they say?" Armin had learnt a long time ago to pay little attention to what people in his school said. People could be jerks. However, he wondered what they had said about Annie.

"Well, just that apparently she kicked Reiner where it hurts."

"W-what? But why?" Armin was surprised. Though, he quickly reached the conclusion that she must have been provoked by Reiner. Annie did come across as defensive but she didn't seem the type to just attack someone out of nowhere, mostly because she liked to distance herself from others, or so it seemed. It was highly likely that she was provoked because Reiner could be an ass at times, what with his popularity with the girls and being a jock.

"I don't know the details exactly, I just heard that he was teasing and maybe flirting with her? Either way, she's a bad influence and not someone you would wanna mess with."

"He probably deserved it." Armin muttered, ignoring the rest of what Eren had said. Eren just shrugged in response.

Armin took a seat at the back of the class deviating from his normal position at the front. He had always thought that for learning, the front of the class was the best place to be. However, he changed his mind and sat away from the others. He didn't want to talk to Eren again for at least an hour. Although science wasn't exactly his favourite class (he preferred English and history), he still excelled in it like he did in every other subject. He really liked his teacher, too. On the first day she had asked everyone in class to drop the formality and just refer to her as Hanji or even by her first name Zoe. Although she was a little eccentric, she was without doubt a brilliant teacher.

Half way into the class, without the sound of a knock the door opened. "What time do you call this, young lady!?" Hanji exclaimed. Her tone wasn't angry and sounded more playful if anything, but at the same time she was irritated that her class had been interrupted. After all, she was passionate about science.

Armin's head shot up from his desk and his eyes immediately fell upon the girl he had been longing to see. He blinked in surprise, _she turned up!_

"Quick, go take a seat next to Armin at the back there" Hanji pointed at him. It was the second time that Annie had been directed towards him, and just like the last time, he felt his heart start to pound against his chest. As Annie approached him, he could see that she looked tired, despite that, she still looked pretty. She dumped her school bag harshly beside the seat and sat down.

Armin stared at her for a few moments before speaking, "H-hey, Annie…"

Annie turned to him slightly, "Hi." _wait, why did I reply to him?_ Annie felt like utter crap and wasn't thinking straight. She had completely overslept, not that she cared what the teachers thought, but at the same time she didn't want them to start bitching and complaining at her. _Or worse, they could contact **him** …_

"How are you?" Armin asked, breaking her chain of thoughts.

Did he ever shut up? Why was he always pestering her? It wasn't only the constant effort to make conversation and bug her, it was also that he had kept looking and smiling stupidly at her over the past week. "Shit." _why did I just answer him?_ "Not that it's any of your business. Just stop talking to me, understand?"

Armin bit his lip, he paused for a few moments, "D-did you…did you enjoy that sandwich at lunch yesterday?" he took in a breath, waiting for her reply.

For the first time, Annie turned to face him completely. She saw that he was smiling. That smile was similar to a smirk and revealed to her that he knew. He had seen her, even though she had made sure to start eating it as he was leaving the cafeteria. A very faint blush crept onto her cheeks. _Damn him._

Armin noticed the blush and laughed softly, he was bubbling inside with joy, "I hope you liked it because I brought you another one today, that is, if you don't have your own food."

"I don't want it." Annie lied.

"So you have your own food today? That's great." Armin was testing her.

"No…" Annie knew what he was doing. But why was he doing this? She was starting to believe that he had brain damage or something. Why else would he continue to bug her after she was being so rude and blunt? "I just don't want anything from you." She said it harshly, trying to ward him off. It wasn't going to work though.

"Are you really on a diet Annie?" Armin's voice sounded concerned this time. He was slightly worried about her because she was already quite lean.

"No I'm not." Annie changed tactic and tried to focus on the class to ignore Armin. She wasn't obliged to tell him anything about herself, and she wouldn't. _Why the fuck does he care so much anyway?_ Annie dipped into her school bag and pulled out a pen and paper, she rolled up the sleeves of her hoodie and began to copy the writing from the whiteboard.

Armin looked down and noticed she had a bruise on her forearm, he was extremely observant and rarely anything went amiss with him. It looked pretty bad and he wondered how she got it. He was going to ask but he decided against it. It was clear she didn't want to talk about herself and it really wasn't any of his business. He figured it was most likely caused by an accident, anyway. Unless Reiner had done it after she supposedly kicked him where it hurts. _No, he may be a jerk sometimes but he wouldn't do that to a girl._

For the remaining ten minutes of the class, Armin decided to stay quiet and focus on the work. He'd approach her at lunch again though, and give her the sandwich whether she wanted it or not. He'd leave the option available to her like last time. He knew they both had gym right before lunch and he wondered if she would attend the class or not, after all, Mikasa had claimed she was slacking off. He guessed he just had to wait for lunch to find out.


	4. Chapter 4

It wasn't like Annie disliked gym class. There had been times in the past where she had really enjoyed it. She was talented at most sporting activities, and one thing she truly loved was Judo; schools didn't offer it, but it was something she wished they did. She had attended classes from the age of seven because her father had pushed her to do it. Annie was a slow learner at first and remembered how small and fragile she used to be compared to the other kids there. Her father had helped her practise to become better, and with time she surpassed all of them, _always to remain small and fragile to **him** , though_.

She remembered how her mother was never all that thrilled with her love of Judo. _"You're so pretty and petite, you know I'll always love you no matter what you do, but ballet would suit you so much better",_ her mother's words rang through her ears, the memory so vivid that it seemed like it was only yesterday that she was sitting in-between her mom's legs as she combed her hair. Her mother had dragged her along to ballet class once and she refused to go back. It just wasn't her thing. Needless to say she was slightly disappointed. _Why am I remembering and thinking of this now? She's gone._

Annie couldn't control her thoughts as she sat alone in an isolated corner of the library, skipping out on gym class for the fifth time that week. She had grabbed the first book she could find and had had it open on page one for the past ten minutes. She'd only managed to read the first line because her thoughts had been distracting her so much. Annie was tired and hungry, on top of that, parts of her body ached pretty badly. She didn't want to be there, but she didn't want to go home, either. She couldn't even decide what place was better at that moment. _Probably school_. Being alone was a bonus, she didn't want to be around others. Annie didn't trust anyone and she wasn't in the mood to entertain any of the imbeciles at school. She liked being alone, she had been that way for a while and had become quite accustomed to it. In fact she preferred it.

While her brain decided to go over every vivid memory of hers, the blue-eyed blond boy suddenly came into her mind, _Armin Arlert_. He was a small boy, (still taller than her, though) who had clearly not finished puberty yet, _or has he even started?_ He was undoubtedly annoying, either way. However, Annie was thankful he had given her a sandwich yesterday. She really needed it, not that she'd admit that to anyone but herself.

Suddenly, Annie heard the sound of a chair pulling up opposite her, disrupting her thoughts. _You've got to be kidding me_. She looked up from her book, irritated, and couldn't hide her surprise when she came face to face with the boy who had just been on her mind just moments ago.

"Hi" he said softly, he looked embarrassed and awkward as he slowly sat down opposite of her.

"What are you doing here?" she mumbled. Shouldn't he be in gym class right now? He didn't seem the type to skip class, he looked like the typical goody two-shoes.

"W-well I don't really like gym." Armin replied honestly, but that wasn't the real reason he was there. His intuition had told him that Annie wouldn't go to gym class after all, and he thought he might find her in the library. He hated gym class anyway, he was terrible at all sports and at the end of the day he only ever ended up humiliating himself. Although he never usually skipped any of his classes, he thought that just the once wouldn't hurt.

"Oh." was all she said as she looked back down to her book, trying to ignore him for the second time that day.

"Annie?" Armin questioned, he could tell she didn't want him to be there but he didn't want to leave, "Why don't you go to gym?"

"I don't even know why I bother wasting my breath on you, it's none of your business. I thought I made that clear already." she looked up and made eye-contact with him, her crystal blue eyes staring harshly into his softer blue ones.

Annie had completely sealed herself off from everyone. She wouldn't even spare him a glimpse into her life, the real her was well hidden. But he wouldn't call her hopeless just yet. She was fierce, stubborn and intimidating, and despite this, Armin was strangely attracted to her. Every time she pushed him away he felt the need to get closer.

"Is it true you kicked Reiner in the, um, I mean where it hurts?" Armin was desperate to get her to talk, or to get some kind of reaction out of her at least.

"You mean in the balls?" Annie asked bluntly, Armin nodded. "Yeah, I did" she said, not breaking eye-contact.

"W-what did he do?"

"He was messing around with me. I won't hesitate to kick you in the balls either, you know."

Armin gulped, feeling nervous. He knew that she was telling the truth. All he could do was nod his head. After a few minutes silence he finally decided to speak again, "Reiner can be a bit of a jerk but he's not all bad. A lot of people at this school are the same. You just have to ignore them".

"When people are dicks to me I can't just ignore it like some people can. Only the weak do that, because they're too spineless to stand up for themselves." Annie's eyes diverted their gaze to the table and she glared at it. Her eyes glistened with a mixture of emotions, anger, frustration, and from what Armin could detect, sadness. It was as if she was taking out her inner problems on the table judging by the harsh look she was giving it.

_And there it is,_ Armin thought. He had managed to get her to open up, even if it was just a tiny bit, it was still progress. He wondered what exactly Annie was talking about though, had she been bullied at her old school? He doubted anyone would even attempt to bully her. He didn't really know what to say in return because he knew that he was the type of person she would class as a coward. He also thought it was best to take her attention away from whatever she was thinking, as it seemed to upset her.

"So…how are you finding it here so far?" Armin asked, changing the subject and trying to keep the conversation alive between them.

Annie just shrugged. She didn't feel like speaking anymore and wondered why the boy was even talking to her in the first place. Armin got the gist and began to take out some homework to work on. He stopped to stare at her when the silence was broken by her stomach suddenly making a loud rumbling sound. He saw Annie's cheeks flush red in embarrassment.

"Don't even say a word." she whispered it under her breath and Armin knew to take her seriously. He stared at her for a few moments and watched as her face returned to its normal pale complexion. Rather than make a comment, Armin decided to just do his homework.

When the bell finally rang for lunch, Annie quickly stood from her seat and walked off leaving Armin to hurriedly pack away his homework. He stuffed it into his bag not caring if it got crumpled and followed her out of the library. When he got to the cafeteria he continued to follow Annie, she was heading for her usual position at the table by the window.

"Armin!" he heard Eren call his name, Armin stopped in his tracks and went over to Eren and Mikasa's table. Sasha Braus and Connie Springer were sitting with them, too. Sasha was messing around with some potatoes while Connie was laughing, finding it hilarious; Mikasa on the other hand looked rather unamused. "Where were you? You didn't show up to gym!"

"Oh um, I didn't really feel all that well." Armin felt bad for lying to his best friend but he didn't want Eren to go off on one. He knew he would be angry if he told him that he skipped class because he wanted to hang out with Annie Leonhardt.

"Oh, are you feeling better now though?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Hey, well, it looks like the table is pretty crowded today, I'm going to go and sit over there." Armin hoped that Eren wasn't going to start giving him a lecture. Not that he had any right to anyway.

"What? Where…? Do you mean with the new girl?"

"Eren, she has a name."

"Fine, well okay then. Go sit with her, I mean _Annie_. I don't mind…just, remember what I told you about her okay?" Eren warned.

Armin didn't care what Eren had said about her or what anyone else was saying about her. He wasn't fickle like the rest of them. "Catch you later, then." Armin said to Eren who nodded, he also gave Mikasa a wave before leaving them. As he made his way over to Annie he instantly felt nervous, he noticed that every time he had approached her, or she had approached him, his heart would begin to race. He didn't want to annoy her, that wasn't his intention at all even though it was evident that he ended up doing that every time he spoke with her. He wanted to be her friend, _or maybe something more_.

Armin took a seat opposite her like he had done in the library. She had been looking out of the window again and when she heard the chair move she turned to him. She didn't look surprised this time, in fact it looked as if she was expecting him. He smiled at her awkwardly, his heart continuing to pound against his chest as she stared back at him with a blank expression on her face. He took out his food and also the sandwich he had prepared for her. He scooted it towards her and began to eat his own. She didn't say a word, but her eyes were drawn down to the sandwich in front of her. She looked away for a moment and furrowed her brows as if she was thinking hard about whether to accept it or not. Armin didn't say a word and let her decide for herself.

It was several minutes before Annie looked at the sandwich again and slowly removed the tinfoil from around it. Armin felt a wave of relief flood over him. He was so happy that she had accepted it, not only because if she hadn't it would have made the situation very awkward, but also because he knew that she was hungry and wanted to eat.

"Thanks." the word came out almost inaudibly, but he heard her and his heart almost burst from his chest.


	5. Chapter 5

The following week passed by fairly quickly. Armin continued to sit with Annie at lunch and despite there being very little conversation between them, Armin was happy that she did not once try and stop him from sitting with her. That in itself was progress. Something was nagging at the back of his mind though, he found it extremely odd that she never brought food with her. He knew she was telling the truth about not being on a diet because she would eat the sandwich he gave her every day. Something was definitely not right with Annie but he didn't want to interrogate her, he was afraid that if he tried to pry into her life too much she'd end up blocking him off completely.

It was on Thursday when Annie asked "Why do you do this for me?", the question caught him slightly off guard and Armin just explained that he liked to help out his friends. He didn't want to see Annie go without. However, it was obvious that she wasn't comfortable with him giving her the sandwich. Most likely because she was so independent, or at least that's the impression she wanted to give off. On Friday, she actually bought tomato soup at the cafeteria. Soup was the cheapest option and it wasn't very tasty at all, Armin knew what the cafeteria's food was like first hand and that's why he always brought his own food with him. Armin assured Annie that giving her a sandwich wasn't a problem, but she shook her head and stated that she didn't want to rely on anyone. "Thank you, though" she added and Armin smiled at her, hoping that his smile hid his concern.

He also wondered if she had been still skipping out on gym, he wouldn't know because he didn't skip again. He didn't get the chance to ask her though, because the next week she didn't turn up to school at all. Naturally, Armin began to freak out. Why wasn't she in school? Was she even going to come back? Had something terrible happened to her? Those type of thoughts plagued his mind all week. He had no idea where she lived so it was impossible for him to go and see if she was okay. He didn't even have her cell phone number.

It didn't help that Eren wasn't that supportive either, "She probably got sent to juvie." he joked as they sat in the cafeteria on Friday afternoon.

"No way, don't be ridiculous." Armin raised his eyebrows at the absurdity of Eren's comment, taking him seriously.

"Maybe she is unwell." Mikasa offered her opinion. Mikasa was probably right, Annie was most likely just unwell and she'd be coming back.

_Nothing serious…_

"Well anyway, wanna hang out this weekend?" Eren asked. He thought it was best to turn the subject away from Annie Leonhardt.

"Going out will help to get your mind off of her." Mikasa added.

Armin smiled half-heartedly and nodded, "Sure, I'll go".

* * *

The trio spent Saturday afternoon hanging out at the mall, it wasn't all that exciting but Armin admitted that it was better than staying at home and dwelling on things. As the day came to a close, they all decided to go to McDonalds to get something to eat.

"I'm going to order three big macs!" Eren exclaimed as they entered the fast food restaurant, Mikasa sighed and Armin just chuckled lightly.

When Armin saw the person behind the counter he froze and his mouth fell open, "A-Annie!?" he couldn't quite believe his eyes.

"Armin…" Annie stood on the other side of the counter, looking as shocked as him, if so more. _God no, why does this shit happen to me?_ She felt like crawling under the counter right there and then.

"W-what are you doing here?" Armin mentally face-palmed at the stupidity of his question.

"I work here." Annie replied bluntly. She noticed that Eren, the loud boy who was in some of her classes, and that emotionless girl who followed him everywhere were standing behind Armin. _If this job wasn't bad enough it just got about one thousand times worse. This is hell._

Eren butted in front of Armin, "Hey, it's you! Armin's been worried about you!" Armin wished that Eren hadn't opened his big mouth, he immediately felt his face flush red.

"W-why weren't you in school this week?" Armin asked ignoring Eren, he noticed that Annie's bangs were completely obscuring one of her eyes. He watched as she raised a hand to the piece of hair and placed it behind her ear. At that moment, Annie revealed an ugly black eye. She must have forgotten about it for a brief second but was soon reminded when she saw Armin's horrified reaction. He gasped loudly, "Annie…y-your eye…"

Annie looked down, avoiding eye-contact with the blond boy, "Look, do you want to order something or not?"

Armin's heart was racing, he was scared. What had happened to Annie? Something was wrong and he wanted to get to the bottom of it but she was shutting him out again. "Annie, talk to me!" Armin pleaded. His eyes looked like a puppy's.

Annie looked up again, "Why should I? It really doesn't matter. Now if you're not going to buy something, get out. There are other people waiting to be served." she scowled at Armin and the other two, but there was some other emotion present in her eyes, Armin couldn't exactly pin-point what it was, but he knew it wasn't anger.

"Hey, you can't talk to him like that! He's only trying to help, he cares about you!" Eren's temper was rising and so was the volume of his voice.

"Eren stop." Armin looked to Annie again but said nothing. She wasn't even looking at him anymore. She was looking at Eren and giving him the evil eye.

_If I didn't need this job so badly, I would have been over the counter and kicking this fucking imbecile in the ass for telling me what to do. Who does he think he is?_ "I've told you twice now, order something or get out" she somehow managed to refrain from saying something that could have potentially cost her her job.

Mikasa moved in front of Eren as Annie continued to glare at him, her body language had become defensive and she was completely prepared for Annie to do something to Eren. She wasn't going to allow that at all costs. "Come on let's just go, Eren" she grabbed hold of his arm.

"Fine, we're going. You don't deserve someone like Armin! He's too good for you" Eren said as Mikasa began to pull him away.

Annie's facial expression remained blank but she felt something inside sting at the brunet's words.

Armin raised his voice for the first time in a long time, "Shut up Eren!" He was in despair. Inside he was battling a mixture of anger and helplessness. He then turned to Annie again, "Annie I'm…so sorry…I-I have to go…" by that point people in the queue behind him had started to complain rather noisily. Armin had no choice but to follow Eren and Mikasa out of the restaurant.

Annie didn't say anything and Armin was unable to read her facial expression at that moment. He couldn't tell if she was angry or upset with him. The blonde girl quickly turned her attention away from him and focussed on the customers, ignoring him completely. Armin watched her over his shoulder as he walked away, she didn't even give him a second glance.

* * *

When Annie finally finished her shift a few hours later, she was somewhat grateful. However, as she walked home late at night alone, she began to dread what was to come.

_I just hope he's already passed out_.

Returning home was not the only thing that was playing on her mind. Why did Armin Arlert have to turn up again? Why did he have to find out that she works in McDonalds? Why was he always trying to be so nice to her? It really seemed like he generally cared about her…And what exactly did that loud mouth mean by _"You don't deserve someone like Armin! He's too good for you"_? She knew it was the truth. But did it mean he had feelings for her? Annie didn't know for sure, she had always isolated herself from others and therefore had little experience with relationships of any kind. All she knew was that Armin was becoming dangerous. Every attempt she had made to push him away had been futile, it was beginning to seem like he wouldn't stop until he had completely stripped her to her very core and discovered everything there was to know about her. What made it worse was that she had almost stopped fighting back. She had accepted those sandwiches from him and allowed him to sit with her at lunch. She was letting him get away with it. _Does this mean that I have feelings for him, as well?_ After a few seconds reality hit Annie in the face, what the hell was she even thinking? She shook her head vigorously. No. No way. Of course she didn't have feelings for him. Why would that thought even cross her mind?


	6. Chapter 6

It went without saying that Eren received the cold shoulder all the way home on Saturday. Armin's cold behaviour continued into the following week and wasn't about to stop anytime soon. Annie was clearly dealing with problems on a scale that he couldn't even imagine, and Eren had probably made her feel ten times worse. Armin simply couldn't bring himself to speak to his best friend.

He sat with his head in a book on Monday morning during homeroom. He was trying to block out everything and everyone. He wanted to do something for Annie, but he was so useless and helpless; he had considered talking to his grandpa about it but he doubted he would be of any help with this type of thing. He didn't even know what was going on exactly, but he knew that he had to find out. He had to fix this.

* * *

Running late, Annie quickly made her way to homeroom. She knew she was in deep shit. She'd missed a week's worth of school and was for sure far behind in everything. The reason she had missed school in the first place was primarily due to her black eye, she didn't want everyone staring at her. She knew it would have drawn unnecessary attention towards her and she couldn't stand to have people poking and prodding at her for information. Thankfully, it had stopped looking so obnoxious and she just had to remember to hide it behind her bangs and not make the mistake of putting them behind her ear again. That wasn't the only reason she had decided stay at home, though. She had been exhausted from working all weekend and then going to school all week. Even though she was strong there was only so much she could take.

"Annie Leonhardt, can I have a quick word" she turned around to see her homeroom teacher Mr Hannes walking briskly towards her. It looked like he was running late too, as usual. She stopped and waited for whatever he had to say. It most likely wasn't good news, probably about her attendance. Once he had caught up to her, he looked down with a serious expression, "The principal wants to see you about your attendance and grades. We're all a bit concerned about you…"

 _I knew it_. Annie wasn't stupid. She could easily come out with top grades in everything. However, she lacked the motivation for anything. That included her homework that she failed to do most nights, or even turning up to class for the past week.

"Okay." she was as blunt as ever and walked off quickly, Hannes was once again taken back by her attitude. Annie just didn't care what else he had to say to her. It probably would have been pointless and useless questions that she didn't feel like answering, especially not that early on a Monday morning. Even if she had managed to escape from Hannes, she knew that the principal, Erwin Smith, was about to interrogate her. When she got to his office she knocked once and opened the door, wanting to get it over and done with as soon as possible.

The principal looked up from his desk as he heard the door open, "Ah, Miss Leonhardt please take a seat." The blonde slumped into the seat opposite of him, not saying a word. "Now, it has come to my attention that your attendance record is poor. I know you have only been here a month but missing a week of school without providing a doctor's note is unacceptable. Not only that, I've been informed that you have not attended gym class once, and teachers from several of your classes have stated that you fail to produce homework when asked."

Annie didn't say anything. She folded her arms across her chest and turned her body ever so slightly to the side in her seat so that she wasn't directly facing Principal Smith. This was all a part of her defence mechanism kicking in, not that she even realised it. "Do you have any explanation for this, Miss Leonhardt?" Annie looked down and shook her head once. She wanted to get out of there, and fast. _How long is he going to keep me in here for?_ She wondered. "Well in that case, we'll have to contact your father. Now, I know your mother passed away recently—"

Annie suddenly looked up and shot a glare at the principal, _why the fuck did he have to bring that up_. "No. There is no need for that…I'll get a tutor" Annie was desperate, and she knew just the person who could help her out of the predicament.

"Oh. Who do you have in mind?" he quizzed her sceptically.

"Armin Arlert."

"Ah yes, I am aware of Armin. He is an exceptional student here, I'm sure he wouldn't mind giving you help, either."

Annie knew that Armin was practically a genius. In the short time that she had been at the school, she had witnessed him excel in every single class. He held all the answers, and whenever he raised his hand he was always correct. He never submitted his homework late and when he got his grades back he would always get top marks above everyone else in the class. She had even just so happened to see that annoying asshole Eren Jaeger ask him to do his homework for him a couple of times and Armin had rejected him saying that he should be doing it himself. Annie respected that, it proved that Armin had a bit of backbone after all.

"Right well okay then, I am willing to accept your proposal to get a tutor. If you say Armin Arlert will help you get back on track then I am happy to see how it goes. However, if I do not see any improvement from you within the next few weeks I will be forced to contact your father in order to resolve this problem. Understand, Miss Leonhardt?"

"Yes." was all Annie said. _Is he done now?_

"You'll have to work on attendance yourself, though. Anyway, first class is about to start. You are dismissed."

 _Finally_. Annie didn't utter a word as she stood up and left. She really didn't like asking for anyone's help. In her opinion she didn't need it. People had proven themselves to be untrustworthy and had let her down so many times in her life that she had given up relying on anyone. She could only truly rely on herself at the end of the day. Approaching Armin about the tutoring was going to be embarrassing, but it had to be done otherwise she'd have the principal on her back.

Annie decided that she would wait until break before talking to Armin about the tutoring. Her first two classes of the day were French with Monsieur Levi, a short, expressionless man who scared the crap out of the majority of the class, and then English with a teacher whose name had slipped her mind. Apparently she was supposed to have read some book for English and got quizzed on it in class. _Another fail_ , she supposed.

The blonde girl was dreading break, what would she do if Armin refused to help her? _I doubt he will say no, it seems like that loser has only ever wanted to help me. It beats me why, though. Maybe it's because he really does have feelings for me after all. Am I being too harsh by calling him a loser? I guess he isn't really...he's not even all that bad..._ Annie didn't even know where her thoughts were heading as she sat in class waiting for it to end.

After the bell rang, Armin seemed to disappear from class before she had the chance to catch up with him. She figured he'd be outside by the benches, despite the weather getting colder by the day. The blonde had noticed he usually hung out there with Eren, Mikasa and some others. However, when she got outside, there was no sign of Armin. Eren and Mikasa were sitting together alone. Annie was surprised but relieved, she didn't want to spend anymore time out in the cold than necessary. She soon concluded that there was only one other place where he could have been. _The library_.

Lo and behold, Armin was sitting at a table by himself, reading a book. She walked over and sat down across from him, Armin immediately looked up and his large puppy-like eyes widened in shock, "A-Annie!" he was speechless for a few seconds, "I'm so sorry for what happened on Saturday—"

"Forget it. I have a favour to ask." she interrupted him, becoming impatient and not wanting to endure whatever he was going to spout. It wasn't like her feelings were hurt anyway…well, not significantly.

Armin stopped speaking in mid-sentence and his mouth formed into an 'o' shape, "O-oh…what is it?"

Annie's eyes diverted their gaze away from Armin's, "I need a tutor. All the teachers are on my back about my studies, I wouldn't be asking the likes of you if I wasn't desperate. Could you help me out?" _Well I could have worded that a little better…_ "Please." She decided to add, feeling somewhat guilty for being rude to him.

Armin took a few moments to process what she had just said, _she's really asking for my help? I can't believe it_. "I'd be happy to help you" he smiled. The boy couldn't help but feel excited over the prospects of tutoring Annie, it meant that he would get to spend more time with her. Not only that, this was a huge step towards helping her and fixing her problems. He wouldn't feel so useless now that he could help her with her studies.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

Armin continued to smile, and despite everything, Annie didn't even feel _that_ embarrassed anymore. The smile on his face wasn't smug, it was genuine and kind. It made her feel comfortable. Although she wasn't exactly looking forward to him tutoring her, she wasn't completely dreading it either.


	7. Chapter 7

When the last bell rang, Annie and Armin left class together. Annie wanted to start the tutoring as soon as possible, so Armin suggested they start that day. The blonde girl just wanted to get it over and done with, _all I have to do is catch up with everyone else and then it will be over. I won't have to spend anymore unnecessary time with Armin and I won't have to worry about the principal dragging **him** into this_.

As they walked along the crowded hallway together, they were suddenly interrupted.

"What's Arlert doing with the new girl with the nice ass?" Reiner's voice was right behind them, he was accompanied by Bertholdt Fubar, a very tall but timid boy.

Annie stopped right in her tracks and swirled around quickly and shot Reiner a deathly glare, "Did you forget what I did to you the last time you said that?" she hissed. Armin just blinked and turned to Reiner, trying to process what was going on.

"You should learn to take a compliment, honey." Reiner smirked. It seemed like he was in the mood for being an extra big jerk today. In contrast, Bertholdt looked extremely uncomfortable beside him, the tall boy looked as if he wanted to be anywhere but there at that moment, and his face was becoming all red and sweaty.

"I don't see it like that. If you say it _one_ more fucking time I swear I'll make you infertile."

"Big words coming from a shorty like you." Reiner teased.

Armin didn't interfere but was becoming annoyed with the way Reiner was speaking to Annie, _jerk.  
_

"Anyway, are you and Armin going out? It's just that my friend here likes you." At that moment, Bertholdt looked like he was about to explode. He shook his head stupidly and was unable to say anything coherent in response.

Annie looked up at Bertholdt for a brief moment, she raised her eyebrows at him and her expression remained blank and unimpressed. The blonde girl then turned back to Reiner, and the glare was back on her face once again, "It's none of your business what I'm doing with him. Leave me alone." Annie was growing impatient and grabbed hold of Armin's arm. She pulled him away from the two and hurriedly made her way down the corridor and out of the school building, dragging Armin along with her.

 _Bertholdt likes Annie? No way…And wow, Reiner is more of a jerk than I had first thought. Now I can completely sympathise with Annie for kicking him where it hurts before_. When they got outside, Armin felt relief as Annie's hand left his arm, _her grip on my arm was pretty tight…she's really strong…._ Armin looked to Annie and asked, "Are you okay?" his voice was soothing, he wanted to try and calm her down because he could tell that she was all worked up.

"I'm fine. I'm just sick of idiots like them." she muttered and glared at the ground.

Armin forced out a soft laugh in an attempt to lighten up the atmosphere, "So, should we go back to your house then?"

Annie looked up at him quickly, "No we can't." she raised her voice in an attempt to sound harsh and firm. She was internally panicking at the thought and wanted to make it clear that going back to her place wasn't going to happen.

"Oh…I just thought that you would feel more comfortable in your own—"

"Well you thought wrong." Annie interrupted, "Let's just go to your house and get this over and done with. And hurry up, it's cold." she mumbled, shoving her hands into the pockets of her hoodie.

Armin shrugged but smiled, "Oh okay then. I live about fifteen minutes away from here so we can walk."

Despite it being mid-November and the weather being cold, Annie was grateful that she didn't have to get the school bus. On the days when she had woken up on time, she had taken the bus to school and found it almost intolerable. Everyone was just so loud and annoying.

Armin attempted to make small conversation with Annie as they walked, but she didn't seem to want to hold it. He was becoming increasingly nervous at the thought of being alone with her at his house. He had been so happy and excited earlier that he hadn't had the time to feel anxious. Little did he know that Annie was feeling the same way.

She didn't understand why, but assumed it was because she wasn't used to being around others. She couldn't even remember the last time she had gone to a friend's house, it must have been years ago.

"Here it is." Armin said as he approached the front door of his home. Annie looked up at the house and followed behind him, "I'm going to have to ask you to remove your shoes" the blond boy removed his pair of Converse and Annie copied him, placing her shoes next to his. "Well, um…firstly, before we start would you like anything to eat or drink?"

"No it's okay." Annie replied, looking around.

"Okay, well I'm going to get a glass of water, you can go into the living room. Make yourself comfortable." Armin smiled as he went off in the direction of the kitchen.

Annie did as she was instructed to and went to the living room. The room felt very cosy, far different from what she was used to, _it wasn't always like it is now, though_ she reminded herself. There were two large bookshelves stacked full on either side of the room, and the fireplace on the wall opposite. Annie's blue eyes fell upon the photos that were placed on the fireplace, she couldn't contain her curiosity and decided to go and check them out. She saw a couple of school pictures of Armin, a picture of a couple on their wedding day (she assumed they were his parents) and then a picture of a much younger Armin with the same couple; she noticed how he was wearing suspenders in the photo, _what a dork,_ she thought. She also noticed how Armin looked cute and happy and it suddenly made her heart ache ever so slightly because it reminded her of the old days. She became so absorbed in her thoughts that she failed to notice that Armin had entered the room.

"That's me with my parents…" Armin's voice made her jump and she quickly put the photo back on the fireplace where it belonged. Annie turned to look at him, she wasn't the best at judging people's emotions but she could see that the usual light in Armin's eyes wasn't present and he had a bittersweet smile on his face.

"I see. Do they work late?" she asked, wondering where they were. She wasn't sure why she asked in the first place, she was only there for one reason and that was to catch up on her studies. She wasn't there to socialise.

Armin looked down, "Oh um, they are no longer with us."

"I'm sorry." Annie quickly said, feeling awkward. She would have never expected that Armin was an orphan, _we're not the same, but we're similar_.

Armin looked up again and smiled at her reassuringly, "Don't be."

"What happened?" Annie blurted out and instantly regretted it. Why did she care, anyway?

"They were killed in a car accident ten years ago. I've lived with my grandpa since then. He owns a bookshop and will probably be back soon." Armin explained coolly, though it was evident that it pained him to talk about his parents. Annie was surprised that he was even telling her anything. She was practically a stranger to him after all. She wouldn't dream of telling him anything personal like that. She didn't even know how to reply to him and after a few moments of silence Armin decided to speak again, "W-well, should we begin?" Annie nodded and took a seat beside Armin on the couch.

Armin took the books out of his backpack and Annie did the same, "What subject do you want to look at first?" he asked, Annie just shrugged. "Hmm," Armin looked through his books, "How about history then?"

"Okay." was all she said, she put all of her other books to the side except history and Armin did the same.

"Oh. Before we start, I wanted to ask you, how does your eye feel?" Armin felt slightly guilty for not asking her sooner, her black-eye had been playing on his mind since Saturday.

Annie didn't bother to look at him, "Fine". _Please don't start questioning me. I just want to get this work over with_.

Armin got the vibe that she didn't want to talk, once again. He respected her feelings and decided to just get on with the work. To say that he wasn't nervous would have been a lie. He even noticed how his hands were shaking a little as he flipped through the pages of his textbook. Despite Annie keeping a little distance between them, she was still so close. He couldn't recall a time where he had been so close to a girl, except for Mikasa, but that was different. Armin persevered despite his anxiousness and started to read from his textbook. He added his own knowledge here and there by referring to his notes, while Annie clung to his every word. She wrote in her notepad as he spoke and every now and then she would ask him to repeat something; he explained the details well and Annie had to admit that she was impressed.

After finishing history, they moved onto the next subject which was science, "This isn't my best subject." Armin warned her.

"What are you talking about? You always get top marks in science class…" Annie stared at him sceptically.

"W-well I just mean—"

"Don't worry. You're a good teacher" Annie looked down again.

"I am?…Thanks…" he blushed lightly and felt a sudden boost in confidence at her words.

Armin watched Annie as she was looking down at her notepad, writing. Being so close to her enabled him to analyse every detail of her face. He noticed that she had extremely long eyelashes, which he found attractive. Her skin was very pale but clear, and even though her nose was pretty big he truly believed that it really suited her face. _She's beautiful_ , he thought silently to himself.

Annie could feel Armin's eyes on her the whole time she was trying to write, _does he have to stare?_ She felt uncomfortable but rather than call him out for it, she decided to keep quiet.

Armin couldn't help but notice how Annie's bangs were hanging forward and it looked as if they were obscuring her vision. Without thinking, he reached his hand out and placed them behind her ear. _Did I just…_

Annie turned to him abruptly with her eyes wide. _Did he just…_ She was going to shout at him for touching her, but his touch had been so gentle that she couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead, she just stared at him and felt her face soar in temperature. She mentally cursed knowing that there was no way of hiding her blush. _  
_

Armin's face was red all over too, including his ears. "I'm sorry." he said quietly, feeling ashamed. _I really shouldn't have touched her without her permission, I'm an idiot!_

"Don't do it again." was all Annie managed to say in the end. _His touch was so soft and gentle, how is it that even possible? I should be furious right now. I should feel like kicking his ass for touching me, but I don't feel that angry at all. What is wrong with me?_ She kept her head down and rolled up the sleeves of her hoodie, suddenly feeling hot all over. Annie began to write again and as she did, Armin's eyes looked down.

Any embarrassment or shame he had previously felt disappeared when he saw her arms. They were covered in bruises, _more bruises!?_ This could be no accident.

"Annie…your arms…"

"I do Judo, that's how I get bruises." _Liar_. Annie hadn't done Judo in months. _It's all because of him, that abusive, pathetic bastard_.

"Oh…I see." Armin didn't fully believe her. Maybe it was because of the way she quickly pulled the sleeves down again as soon as he said it, or maybe it was the tone in her voice which wasn't all that convincing. Whatever it was, Armin was left feeling uneasy. He knew he couldn't persist and question her because she was already shutting him out again. He knew that if he tried to get more information out of her now she'd probably just leave. He concluded that he would just have to keep a closer eye on her from now on.


	8. Chapter 8

After the pair decided to call it a day with the tutoring, Armin asked Annie to stay for dinner. She strongly protested against the idea at first. It took a lot of persuading from Armin, but eventually she gave in. He was pretty good at manipulating her mind-set, but it wasn't only Armin's pleading that made her stay. She figured that she could do with a proper meal. After all, she had been surviving off of canned soup and ready-meals for a long time.

When Armin's grandfather had arrived, he greeted her pleasantly and as they sat together at dinner, she couldn't help but think what nice people both Armin and his grandfather were. Despite saying little to nothing at the table, Annie didn't feel the slightest bit judged for it. After finishing dinner Annie announced that she had to leave, Armin of course was quick to offer to walk home with her.

"No. Don't worry about it." she wondered why he was asking, it wasn't even dark yet. Annie collected up her books and placed them into her shoulder bag. She walked out into the hallway and put on her shoes, Armin followed her.

"It's no problem at all, really." he smiled while putting on his shoes, the blond then grabbed his jacket.

"You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?" Annie sighed and rolled her eyes at his persistence. _First dinner, now he wants to walk me home…what next…_

Armin was slightly embarrassed by her comment but laughed softly, "Nope."

"Well, alright." Annie gave in once more and headed out of the door. The blond boy smiled and followed behind.

After walking side-by-side down the street in silence for about five minutes, Armin turned to the blonde girl, "Where exactly do you live, Annie?"

"Around twenty-five to thirty minutes from here. I told you, you didn't have to walk home with me."

"And I told you that it's no problem." he reassured her.

"Why are you always so nice to me?" Annie suddenly asked, "It's not like I've ever returned that kindness, in fact I've been the opposite."

Armin studied her facial expression, he couldn't quite make out what she was feeling but he noticed that she had furrowed her brows, obviously thinking deeply about something. "Well it's just that, despite what others and you may think, I actually think that you are quite nice."

Armin was telling the truth, he really did believe that Annie was a nice person. He knew that she was hiding behind a wall that she had built up, for reasons that he would get to the bottom of eventually. Over the past month he had managed to get her to open up, even if it was just a bit. She had even approached him for his help. Armin was sure that she wasn't as bad as she pretended to be, it was just a barrier she had put up to protect herself from the world. He was smart, and he really trusted his gut feeling and judge of character, especially concerning Annie.

"Huh?" Annie was confused, why did Armin think she was nice? _Maybe he is one of those types who want to see the good in everyone. Yeah, that must be it_.

"I think you're just scared of people. And that's okay, because there are a lot of horrible people out there to be wary of. You act tough in an attempt to ward off others to avoid being hurt. But in reality, you really do care and you want to make friends, just like any other human-being." Armin hoped he wasn't pushing it by saying this to Annie's face. He expected her to get mad, tell him to shut-up and throw it in his face that he didn't know her, but instead she remained silent.

_How…did he come to that conclusion? I was right before in thinking he was dangerous. He's smart and unbelievably so. I don't even know what to think, but he's right. I don't want to be completely alone, I'm human after all _…_ Am I being delirious in thinking that I would like to be a good person to him?_

Annie really didn't know what she was thinking anymore. She didn't even know what she was feeling, either. She looked to Armin who was facing forward and she felt a strange sensation in her stomach. _What the hell is this?_

They continued to walk in complete silence and Annie avoided looking directly at Armin again after that. He on the other hand, glanced at her several times out of the corner of his eye. He knew that his words had got her thinking, and he also knew by her reaction that he was right.

Eventually Armin ended up in a part of town that he wasn't exactly familiar with, it didn't look as nice as where he lived. Annie came to a stop in front of a huge tower block of apartments and Armin raised his head to look up at the tall building, _she lives here?_

"Well I live here so…bye." Annie mumbled, looking to the ground. She didn't want to look at him again, not after that feeling she got the last time. Annie proceeded to make her way to the entrance of the apartments, Armin followed her wanting to know exactly where she lived in this building. When Annie noticed that Armin was still beside her, she looked up at him confused and vaguely annoyed, "What?"

"I'll take you right to your door." Armin stated, smiling down at her.

"That's pointless." _No. No, this is not happening_.

"Not really, I've already come this far."

Annie knew she wasn't about to get rid of him any time soon so she just let out a sigh and entered the building, allowing him to follow behind. She approached the elevator, not wanting to take the stairs and pressed the button. The elevator made a horrible rattling sound as it reached the ground floor, it sounded like it was ancient. The doors creaked loudly as they opened, obviously in desperate need of some oil. Annie stepped inside and Armin did the same. She could feel her heart thudding hard against her chest as she pressed the button with the number four on it. There was silence as the elevator slowly worked its way up to the fourth floor. It seemed to take longer than usual, but that was probably only due to the awkwardness of the situation. When the elevator arrived at its destination Annie stepped out. Armin followed the small blonde, not really knowing what to say. He didn't expect her to live somewhere like this.

Annie stopped in front of door number 422 and reached into her bag for her key. By this point she was almost shaking. Her heart had continued to race the whole time and she just hoped that Armin would leave before she opened the door. He didn't though, and was still standing right there. What if he tried to push her further and wanted to come inside? _Like hell that's going to happen_.

"So, should we do the same tomorrow?" Armin enquired.

Annie nodded her head and went to put the key in the lock, "Bye." she twisted the key and just before she opened it, Armin spoke again,

"I'm looking forward to it. See you tomorrow at school then! B—" before he could even finish his sentence, Annie had opened the door and within a few seconds, the door slammed shut in Armin's face and she was inside.

"…bye." he finished his sentence in a quiet mumble. He was slightly taken back by her actions, but then again, it was Annie after all.

Annie let out a breath of relief once she stepped inside, but it was short-lived. Her father had heard the door and had already made his way into the hallway. He stood about a metre away from her, resting his arm against the wall for support. He was drunk again, obviously.

"Where have you been?" his eyes were blood shot and he looked and sounded completely out of it. God only knew how much alcohol he had consumed this time. Not that this was a rare occurrence, it had been going on for months and months now, _ever since mom died_. "Answer me!" he shouted so loudly that it made Annie jump and hurt her ears. She wanted to make a run for it to her bedroom, but she knew it was hopeless. Every time she had tried to do that in the past he had ended up grabbing her.

"School." the blonde said quietly.

"You're a lying little bitch." he snarled and approached her quickly. He swayed from side-to-side, unable to even walk in a straight line.

Annie backed herself up against the door and turned her head away from him. He wasn't having any of that and grabbed hold of her jaw. He yanked hard, forcing her to face him, "You're my fucking daughter…I'm your father! I have a right to know where you've been!" he slurred and Annie could smell the strong scent of vodka coming off of him. She was surprised he was even able to form a coherent sentence considering how drunk he was.

"I may be your daughter but that doesn't mean anything anymore, does it? You turned your back on me, no, _us_ , when mom became ill!" Annie immediately regretted what she had said, despite feeling so angry. Her father looked absolutely furious at her. He released her jaw but only to give her a harsh slap across the face. The impact was so hard that it knocked her to the ground.

"I've told you before, **time** and **time** again to not speak about your mother to me!" his voice was so loud that she was sure the people living in the apartment next to theirs and above could hear everything. She curled up into the fetal position and covered her hands over head, preparing for another beating.

He kicked her once, and once only. As he left her curled up in the hallway, she heard him muttering something that was incoherent. She guessed he would go and collapse in the living room for the rest of the night.

Annie let the tears fall from her eyes and run down her cheeks, she didn't even make an effort to move from the floor. Instead she retracted into herself even more and hugged her knees tightly.


	9. Chapter 9

"Armin…! Armin…! Earth to Armin…!" Eren grabbed hold of the sleeve of Armin's jacket roughly, stopping him in his tracks and getting his attention, finally. The blond snapped out of his thoughts and looked to his best friend, the best friend he hadn't been talking to for almost a week. Armin looked and felt emotionally drained.

"Armin look, I'm sorry for what happened last Saturday…I know I acted like a jerk to Annie." just because Eren had decided to apologise to Armin did not mean that he approved of Annie. He thought she was a bad girl and therefore no good for Armin. After all, Armin was the nicest guy he could possibly think of and he knew he could do better. Eren had realised that it didn't matter what _he_ thought though, because it didn't stop Armin sitting with her at lunch. Eren also noticed how the pair had left school together every day that week. The brunet just couldn't stand not talking to his best friend any longer and after discussing it with Mikasa, he took on board her suggestion that he should just try to understand and accept what Armin wanted. If he was a good friend he would support Armin, not fight him.

"Huh?" had Eren just apologised? Armin wasn't sure if he had misheard or not. He definitely wasn't in the mood to put up with Eren's 'supportive' criticism right now. Sure, in the past Eren and Mikasa had always come to his rescue when bullies had targeted him, but Annie wasn't the enemy and Eren had no right to stick his nose in. _Old habits never die, I guess…_

"If you want to date Annie Leonhardt, then that's fine by me." Eren gave Armin his best smile of encouragement.

"Eren what are you talking about?"

"You're dating Annie, right? Well I know I wasn't all for it before, but I've been thinking and I've realised that I should be more supportive."

"We're not dating…"

"Oh" Eren didn't know what to say. He had assumed the two were a thing now.

"Eren you don't need to protect me like I'm a helpless little kid, I just turned sixteen! I know you used to be there for me when those kids on our street used to beat me up, and I'm thankful for that, really I am, but please don't interfere with Annie and me. You don't understand at all."

Eren couldn't hide the fact that he was taken back by Armin's words, "What's going on between you two, then?" he wondered, because hell if he knew.

"We're friends." Armin looked down, he knew he would have liked to be more than that, but he wasn't going to push for it. Especially since she seemed so reluctant to open up to him.

"And what is so complicated and hard to understand about being friends?" Eren raised his eyebrows. The whole situation was going over his head.

"I don't really want to discuss it here." Armin looked from side to side, beckoning at their surroundings. They were just about to enter the changing rooms for gym class. Armin didn't want to discuss Annie now, where anyone could overhear.

"Is it serious?" Eren was becoming concerned.

"Well y-yes…I think. To be honest, I'm not fully sure myself."

"Armin you're not making any sense!"

"I'll tell you later, okay?"

"Alright." Eren nodded, accepting that Armin didn't want to talk about it there. If they stood outside any longer they'd be late for class anyway, so Eren decided it was best to follow Armin into the changing rooms without asking further questions.

Armin was really concerned about Annie, especially after seeing those bruises all over her arms on Monday. Then later, when he discovered where she lived he became even more so. Not to mention how she had never once mentioned her family. Armin noticed that she seemed to be getting more and more comfortable with him by the day, but when he would walk her home of an evening, she would instantly turn very standoffish. It just didn't seem right. Nothing did. He was starting to believe that something was wrong at home, but he was terrified to approach her with that topic. If he was wrong, the likelihood was that she would get angry and tell him to shove his friendship where the sun doesn't shine. On the other hand, if he was correct, what could he do? He was a sixteen year old high school student living with his grandfather. He didn't have the power to do anything drastic. If it really was the case, it was going to be very difficult. Also taking into consideration that she was constantly turning down any help he tried to offer her. _Then again, she did approach me about the tutoring, so she's not completely against wanting help, and don't forget those times she accepted the sandwich. She's just complicated_.

Armin just didn't know what to do, and was once again left feeling useless.

* * *

Annie had turned up to gym class all week, not that she had had any choice. If she skipped again the principal would probably be quick to get in touch with her father. That was the last thing she needed. She didn't want his abusive, alcoholic nature to be exposed, and nor did she want to receive any unnecessary beatings.

She had down right refused to wear shorts the first time she went to class, but the teacher had forced her into it, threatening her with detention otherwise. She was not happy to say the least, because it meant that the bruises on her legs were exposed for everyone to see. Not to mention that it was freezing, Annie couldn't stand the cold. Luckily, they got to stay inside some days.

The blonde was surprised at how little attention the gym teacher actually paid during class. Annie was literally getting away with just standing around doing nothing, while some others in the class played the game of volleyball. _So why did she insist I wear these fucking shorts if she's not even going to pay attention?_ Although irritated, Annie was thankful because she lacked the energy to participate in the game anyway. _If anyone asks about the bruises, I'll just use the same excuse as last time. It worked with Armin, I think. It will work with these people who don't care anyway. Armin is the only one who cares_.

Annie recognised that the blond sincerely cared for her wellbeing, and she was happy. She was happy he cared. _I don't know why I'm so happy about it, though_. Maybe it was because Armin was the first person to show any interest in her since her mother died. _But I don't really want people to show an interest in me_. Her emotions felt so conflicted, but she couldn't deny that over the past few days, Armin's tutoring had proved to be hugely beneficial. She had even started to get used to going around his place. Even if it was annoying that he persisted on walking her home every evening. _I hate to admit it but I'm beginning to enjoy his company_.

"Annie," a voice from behind interrupted her thoughts. The blonde girl was surprised that anyone was even attempting to talk to her. She turned around to see who it was and came face-to-face with the tall Asian girl. Mikasa Ackerman.

"What?" Annie looked up at Mikasa, wondering what she could possibly want with her.

"Do you like Armin?" her facial expression remained impassive, as usual.

_What type of question is that!?_ _Who does she think she is? Is it even any of her business?_ These thoughts instantly came to mind, but Annie could feel the blood rush to her face. _Fuck no. Why am I blushing?_ "Why are you asking me this?" she grumbled. She should have just walked off and not bothered answering at all.

"Eren worries about Armin…" Mikasa stated. _Of course_ , Mikasa's main priority was Eren Jaeger.

"And…?" Annie could feel anger slowly boiling inside of her. What did Eren Jaeger have to do with her feelings for Armin? Nothing, as far as she was concerned.

"I'm sure that you've realised Armin has a crush on you. Eren doesn't want Armin to get hurt. I'm asking a simple question, do you like Armin or not?" there was a look in Mikasa's eyes that hinted something along the lines of 'don't mess with me or else', not that Annie felt threatened by her.

"I don't understand what this has to do with you." Annie managed to say it with attitude in her tone but she could feel herself becoming flustered, the question was making her feel extremely uncomfortable. She didn't even know how to answer it. And even if she did, she wouldn't be telling Mikasa, because Mikasa was a stranger to her and it was absolutely none of her business.

"Eren and I are Armin's close friends, we care about his feelings."

Annie was completely lost for words. This didn't usually happen to her by choice, but there she was, stuck in a severely humiliating situation. _Seriously, I don't deserve this shit_.

"I'll take your silence as a yes then." Mikasa concluded and began to walk away.

Annie started to panic. She was still trying to process everything that had been said to her. _So, he really does have feelings for me after all…but wait…_

"Wait," Mikasa stopped and turned around to look at Annie again, "I don't have any feelings for that loser. He helps me with my school work because I'm behind, that's all." Annie knew that was a lie but she couldn't even admit to herself that she had feelings for Armin, let alone Mikasa. She couldn't allow someone she barely knew to know something so personal. This type of information could be used against her, after all.

"It's okay. I see how it is." there was a sly glint in Mikasa's eyes despite the rest of her face portraying no emotion. Annie didn't like the look of it one bit. Mikasa knew she was lying.

Lunch followed and Annie wasn't looking forward to it at all. She didn't want to eat the shitty soup, and she didn't want to have to sit opposite Armin Arlert. Mikasa was bound to tell Armin, or at least tell Jaeger who would tell Armin. Either way, Annie was done for. _Maybe I should just go home. No. What am I thinking? Even school right now is better than going back there_. Was it really true that Armin had a crush on her? Just because Mikasa Ackerman said it, didn't mean a thing. Annie knew somewhere inside that Mikasa was right though, and for some reason she wouldn't admit it. She felt extremely agitated as she walked to the cafeteria.

The small blonde collected her soup and headed for her usual place, she saw Armin already sitting there. Annie half-expected Mikasa and Eren to be sitting there too, but much to her relief they weren't. After her discussion with Mikasa, Annie had begun to feel uneasy. If her life wasn't already bad as it was, it just got a fraction worse. She dumped her tray down opposite of Armin, causing the soup to splosh over the bowl. Armin looked up at her and smiled as she sat down. She began to stir the soup without even looking at him, but she could feel his eyes on her.

"Hey, Annie" Armin's eyes were still staring at her, "How was gym?"

"Terrible." she muttered. It really had been, all thanks to Mikasa's rude and intrusive question. It had bothered her more than it should, because now she really had to contemplate her feelings for Armin. Annie already had enough on her mind, and now this? It wasn't fair.

"What happened? Do you not like sports?" the tone in Armin's voice was so genuine, but Annie refused to look up at him. She had been stirring her soup for about three minutes now.

"I do like sports." she answered truthfully, eyes still on the uninviting soup.

"I'm guessing just a bad day, then…?" Armin paused briefly and bit his lip, "W-would you tell me if there was something wrong?" he felt like he was chancing it by asking. But then again, he was probably at risk every time he ever opened his mouth to the fiery girl.

Annie simply nodded. She had no intention of telling him anything, though. What would she do if she confessed everything to him, told him how she was left to care for her dying mother while her father turned his back on them, and then after she died became a depressed alcoholic who beat her, what if Armin couldn't deal with her problems? What if he turned his back on her because he simply couldn't handle it? Annie hated to admit that she didn't want to be alone again, she was just getting used to Armin being in her life. Apart from which fact, she truly believed that it wasn't his business. Annie didn't want to say that out loud, though. After all, it would probably hurt his feelings. _He's been so kind to me, especially with the tutoring. I don't want to treat him like a piece of shit_.

Armin knew that he wasn't going to get any more out of Annie. He watched her, slightly concerned, as she continued to play with her food. He wouldn't give up on her though, he was determined. He just had to give her time. After a few moments he decided to eat his own food, because if he didn't, lunch would be over before he would be able to finish it. He finished his sandwich and then chugged down a carton of milk without the straw, having decided to buy it at the cafeteria for a change.

Sitting in silence with Armin was beginning to make Annie feel uncomfortable, perhaps because she had a lot on her mind and wanted to be distracted from it. It was definitely a change because silence usually made her happy. She dared herself to look up at Armin, and when she did, she had no regrets. The sound that came out of her mouth shocked her, it had become so unfamiliar. She hadn't laughed in such a long time that she forgot what her own laughter even sounded like. She couldn't contain herself and the sound continued to flow out of her mouth as she watched Armin's wide-eyed and completely dumbfounded face. Annie had to place a hand over her mouth to quieten herself in the end.

_A milk moustache…! Seriously? What is he, like, six or something?_ She continued to giggle while Armin's face became redder by the second. He looked very perplexed, and more shocked than she felt.

"W-what?" _She's laughing, but she's laughing at me!? Is there something wrong with my face?_ "Annie w-why are you laughing?" Armin was astonished to say the least. He hadn't seen her amused by anything before. Heck, he had barely seen a smile on her face. He never expected to hear her laugh, ever. It sounded so cute and carefree, too.

"You have a milk moustache from drinking from that carton." she stated. Annie had calmed down by now and stopped laughing. Armin missed the sound despite it causing him alarm at first.

"O-oh." he brought the back of his hand to his upper lip and quickly wiped any remnants of the milk away, he then gave her an awkward smile. _Well, that was embarrassing but it was definitely worth it, hearing her laugh like that_.

Annie suddenly felt sheepish due to her sudden outburst back there. She hadn't realised that she even had it in her to laugh like that anymore, but it turned out that she did. And it was all because of Armin.


	10. Chapter 10

Annie absent-mindedly watched the other girls playing outside. A lot was on her mind, and she was freezing her butt off which automatically put her in a bad mood. The boys had been lucky to stay indoors for gym class, and she envied them. She sat out, after complaining of having a bad leg, not that it was true. All Annie was doing was reflecting on how shit her life was, shivering while she was at it. She felt emotionally exhausted but even so, she did not want anyone's pity. She just couldn't wait until the day was over and she would have her study session with Armin. Thinking about it, she had initially not wanted to spend anymore time than necessary with Armin. One more study session with the blond boy was all she needed to get back on track. She felt like she had caught up enough in her studies to prevent the principal from bothering her about it any longer. _After today, that will be it_.

The blonde should have been happy about it, but she wasn't. The week had passed by too quickly for her liking. If she wasn't going to be going back to Armin's house after school anymore, she would feel somewhat empty. Annie was disappointed in herself. She had allowed an intruder into her life. What was worse, she knew she had started to rely on him in some way. _I can't believe I've let this happen. What's even more unbelievable is that I've actually ended up developing feelings for him_. Annie didn't see the point in lying to herself anymore. She figured she may as well come to terms with the fact that she liked Armin Arlert a lot more than she had originally planned.

This did not sit well with her. She had promised herself a long time ago that she would not rely on anyone other than herself, she didn't want to become close to others. People were not to be trusted in this shitty world. She had learnt that the hard way after her mother became ill. When her mother had been diagnosed with a terminal illness, Annie had gone into shock. She was never the chatty, sociable type of girl in the first place, but, she had been more willing to make friends before all of that happened. Her father had been a good dad up until this point, she remembered how he would encourage her when she practised Judo, saying stuff like, _"That's my girl!"_.

That was in the distant past though, because when he learnt of his wife's illness he became depressed. He couldn't handle the situation and turned to alcohol. He backed out and left Annie to cope on her own. She was only fourteen at the time and her world had literally shattered into a million tiny pieces. She missed a lot of school due to looking after her mother, and when she finally passed away, Annie was numb for months. _I think I still am, for the most part_. Her father threw out everything that had belonged to his wife. He began to beat her, for reasons she didn't exactly understand. On several occasions he complained that she resembled her mother too much for him to bear. How was that her fault, though? Why should she be beaten for looking like her mother? It wasn't fair and Annie couldn't comprehend it. Her father wanted to escape the town completely after a couple of months, stating how there were too many memories there for him to handle. Moving didn't help the situation though.

* * *

Armin was sure that he would rather be outside in the cold than inside playing dodgeball. Dodgeball was the absolute worst activity in the history of gym class. One time, he had even received a busted lip thanks to some idiot throwing the ball at his face. In his opinion, the sport was only fun for those who were strong and good at sports in general, it was an opportunity to humiliate the weak, like him.

The gym teacher, Keith was always picking on him, too. He always made an effort to point out how he could be doing better, even when he was at his limit. _I just really hate this class. I can't wait for the day to be over so I can spend time with Annie_. Armin had found himself thinking about the small blonde girl very often. It was as if she was always on his mind. He hadn't really had a proper crush before until she came along. Sure, he found some of the girls in school to be pretty, but in his opinion they had nothing on Annie.

Suddenly out of nowhere, Armin felt the harsh impact of a ball hitting the back of his head. He let out a yelp and fell to the ground. _That hurt…!_

Armin clutched his head while lying on the floor and heard Reiner's voice hover above him, "Wow, sorry there Armin, I didn't mean to be throw the ball that hard", although Reiner's apology sounded sincere, he was still pissed off. His head was throbbing and he knew he'd probably have to endure a headache for the rest of the day.

"Arlert get up off your ass, you're out." Keith shouted. Armin groaned and Eren quickly ran over to him, he offered Armin a hand and he accepted it. They made their way over to the bench and joined Jean who was already sitting there.

"As I was saying, I don't think there is anything wrong with me referring to Mikasa as hot. She's not your blood-related sister, after all."

"Shut the fuck up, Jean." Eren ignored Jean and looked to Armin, "Are you okay, Armin?" Armin simply nodded, not wanting to complain that his head was killing him, and took a seat beside Jean.

"You know who's not hot?" Jean continued, unfazed by Eren's comment, "That girl who started here recently. Annie…"Armin felt his heart sink. What the hell was Jean saying? "I mean, that nose of hers is huge…"

Eren shot Armin a glance, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. He knew that his best friend wouldn't stand for this.

"I think it suits her nicely." Armin piped up in Annie's defence.

Jean laughed and put an arm around Armin's shoulder, misunderstanding, "Nice one Armin! It does suit her, it's ugly like the rest of her face."

"Jean that's going a bit far" Eren said quickly, sensing that Armin was angry and aiming to calm him down. It didn't work though. Eren suddenly remembered what Armin had said the other day, _come to think of it, he still needs to tell me what the issue is with Annie_. It made the situation even tenser for Eren. He didn't like Annie, but he didn't want Jean mouthing off about her in front of Armin like that.

Armin angrily shook Jean off, "That's not what I meant." The blond boy stood up abruptly and began to walk off, as he did, he bumped into Marco Bodt who was walking towards the trio, "Sorry, Marco" he mumbled. He just felt so infuriated. All these emotions felt alien to him, he wasn't used to getting mad at his classmates, or anybody, really.

"Are you okay, Armin?" Marco asked after him, feeling concerned for his friend. He didn't get a reply.

* * *

"Is something wrong?" Annie's question made Armin's heart skip a beat as they walked back to his house later that day. Annie had sensed something was off about Armin at lunch but didn't say anything at the time. She wasn't confident in her ability to read people, unlike Armin. It seemed pretty obvious now that something was bothering him, though. He was being unusually quiet. _Shouldn't he be bugging me about something or other?_ Annie felt weird asking, it gave off the impression that she actually cared about him. _But I do_.

"Huh? I'm f-fine, Annie." Armin smiled, his smile didn't meet his eyes and Annie picked up on this. Instead of questioning him further, she shrugged her shoulders and turned away from him. Armin looked to her, was she angry at him for not telling her what was wrong? Did she even realise that he was lying about being fine? It was probably obvious he wasn't okay. Perhaps he should just be honest with her? "My head still hurts from being hit during dodgeball and, well, I guess people were just jerks today…"

"I see," Annie paused for a moment, she didn't look at him as she spoke, "Well, did you kick their ass?"

"…No" did he look like the type of guy to her who would do something like that?

"Ha, didn't think so," she scoffed "Maybe they deserved it."

It wasn't in Armin's nature to wish harm on his friends or anyone for that matter, but he couldn't completely disagree with her on this. Jean had called Annie ugly. It was one of the most absurd things he had heard in his life, because she was far from that. She was absolutely beautiful.

"He did. But I'd like to be the better person." Armin spoke quietly and looked down. He hoped that people weren't giving Annie a hard time. He doubted she would tell him if they were.

Annie respected what Armin had said. She turned to look at him again and saw that he had lifted his head and was facing straight ahead. For some reason she felt that strange sensation in her stomach for a second time and quickly turned away. _Is it butterflies…?_

When they arrived at Armin's house, his grandfather was already there. He was sitting in the living room with a newspaper, "Oh, hello Armin, Annie" he nodded, familiar with the blonde girl by now.

"Hey, Grandpa!" Armin smiled.

"Hi" Annie added, she wondered if they were going to do the tutoring in the living room with his grandfather present, they had been doing it in there the whole week, but he had usually been at his bookshop.

"Since my Grandpa decided to occupy the living room, do you want to go to my room to study?"

"Sure." Annie was somewhat relieved. It would be less awkward that way.

His bedroom was very neat and tidy, the complete opposite of hers. The walls were an ocean blue and the floor was pine wood. He had a bookshelf in his room which was stacked full, just like the ones in the living room. This kid sure liked to read. There was a desk in the corner with a laptop and some paper work on it. Annie noticed a teddy bear on his bed. She would have thought that was stupid if it had been anyone else. What caught her attention the most was a huge poster of the map of the world, it covered a large amount of the wall beside his bed. She walked over to it, and saw how he had stuck star stickers onto certain countries, "These countries with the stars, are they the ones you've visited?" she wondered out loud.

"No, no. They are the ones I want to visit first," he smiled, "It's my dream to travel to Europe; England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, well you get the picture" Armin's voice contained passion as he spoke.

"Why?" she looked at him, it was then that she realised she didn't even know a thing about the boy.

"Well, partly because of my heritage. I have German, English and Dutch ancestry, so I would love to visit those countries first. But, it's not just about that. My parents travelled to many places, they really had a passion for it. They said that when I was old enough they would take me with them." Armin continued to smile despite knowing that he would never get to travel with his parents. It made Annie's heart contort slightly just looking at his face. "You don't have to feel sorry for me, I'm planning on travelling with my friends." Armin stated as he read her facial expression.

"I don't pity you or anything." Annie turned away from him. After a few moments she spoke again, "I think that your dream is pretty cool, for a dweeb like you."

"Thanks," _was that a compliment or an insult? I'm going to take it as a compliment._ "Do you have any interest in your heritage?" he asked her, being curious.

"Not really. All I know is that my last name is of German origin."

"Oh yeah, doesn't it translate something like, lion heart?" Armin believed the name was very fitting for someone like Annie.

"Yes, something along those lines.", Annie paused and then looked to Armin, "I'm not completely against seeing some of the world too." _If I could see the world with him, I'm sure it would be worthwhile_. Annie didn't know what she was thinking, _why am I thinking like that? For fuck sake my brains have turned to mush lately_.

Armin looked pleased to hear her words. There was silence for a few moments and then he opened his mouth again, "Hmm, by the way, Annie, why did you move here? Where are you from originally?" sure it was a personal question but they had been spending a lot of time together recently and he thought that by now it wouldn't be intrusive to ask.

Annie felt herself tense up at the question. She really didn't want to reveal anything to him. She knew it was unfair, considering he had told her about his parents and his dreams, but she just wasn't comfortable with it. Maybe he had told her everything simply to coax personal information out of her? _No, he's not like other people in this shit world_. Annie was still unsure of herself and she was unsure of Armin.

"Was it because of your parent's job?" Armin thought that he could use this opportunity to maybe get to the bottom of what was going on behind the scenes in Annie's life, he only hoped that now she would open up to him.

"My mother is dead." Annie blurted out. She knew Armin was going to keep asking, and just like vomit, the words fell out of her mouth uncontrollably. She felt sort of relieved but at the same time uncomfortable that he knew. At least it meant that she didn't have to endure an interrogation of his. Just moments ago she was feeling relaxed, even happy, and now she felt like shit. If he was going to continue to ask personal stuff like this, she would just leave, simple.

"I'm really, really, sorry, Annie." Armin was stumped. Even after telling her about his parents, she never mentioned her mother was dead, too. He was about to reach out to her, to comfort her, because she looked very sad. However, as his hand touched her arm she slapped it away. She took a step back and glared at him fiercely.

"Don't start feeling sorry for me, okay? I only told you so that you would shut the fuck up. And don't start thinking we are the same, either. Your parents died in a car crash, my mother had cancer. I…" Had she really just said all of that? She was shaking. How could she say that? It was like word vomit all over again.

Armin blinked, unable to say anything. He was hurt by her harsh words, but he quickly forgave her.

"A-Annie, I didn't think that for a moment, I—"

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have said that." She interrupted him, suddenly feeling awful for being so insensitive. She had just dismissed the fact that his parents had been killed in a car accident when he was only a young child, because she had watched her mother die of cancer. It was wrong, she was wrong, she was a terrible person. Annie was still shaking and she felt tears starting to form in her eyes. _No, not now. I won't cry now. He should be the one crying, not me_.

"It's okay. I understand that it upsets you to talk about it. I won't ask again, it's my fault for bringing it up in the first place." _Are those tears in her eyes?_

"I should go." Annie began to make a getaway.

"No, wait," She stopped in her tracks but didn't look into his eyes. She couldn't bear to. "Let's just forget I ever asked…" he offered, knowing it was stupid. How could that be forgotten?

If Armin really wanted her to stay after she had been so horrible to him, he probably really did have brain damage. Or maybe he was just a really nice person. Someone who deserved way better than the likes of her, just like Jaeger had said. Annie figured the least she could do now was to stay.

"Alright" her voice shook slightly and was almost inaudible.

Armin let out a breath of relief, "I'm g-glad. So…should we start studying?" Armin felt weird asking such a casual question after all of that, but he didn't know what else to do. He didn't want Annie to leave, he wanted to help her. The blonde nodded while still looking to the floor.

Armin brought a second chair to his desk and they sat together while he tutored her as if nothing had happened. When they finished, Armin offered to walk her home as usual, but she wouldn't let him. He didn't persist like he usually did and instead allowed her to go alone. Annie cried all the way home, for the first time she didn't even fear what her father was going to say or do to her when she got back. She felt like she deserved it anyway.

Armin had learnt something about Annie from all of this; it was that she was undeniably broken. She was more delicate and fragile than he had ever imagined. He was going to have to treat her with caution from now on, he had to be gentle. Even if she pushed him back again and again, he vowed to himself that he would help her. He would fix her.


	11. Chapter 11

"Armin, you still haven't told me about Annie." Eren reminded his friend impatiently. The boy was sitting on a bean bag in Armin's room, Mikasa was sitting at the desk and looked vaguely interested at Eren's statement. Armin was on his own bed. It was Saturday afternoon and the trio had decided to spend time together, Armin hadn't really been spending much time with them at lunch because he had been sitting with Annie for just over a month.

"It doesn't matter anymore." Armin quickly said. After yesterday, he didn't really feel like talking about Annie at all. She hadn't wanted to tell him about her mother and he felt like he would be betraying her if he spoke about her personal life or his speculations to his friends. Even if they were his best friends who he trusted more than anyone.

"I spoke to her a few days ago…" Mikasa mentioned. She had decided to keep quiet about Annie's silent confession before, simply because the only reason she approached the blonde was to put her _own_ mind at rest about the situation. There wasn't much need to tell either Eren or Armin about it at that moment. Annie herself had wondered if Mikasa had said anything, and gathered that she hadn't, and was thankful. Little did she know that Mikasa was about to spill the beans.

"Oh?" Armin's eyes widened in curiosity.

"I asked her if she liked you." Mikasa spoke as if it was nothing.

"And!?" Armin felt his ears burning.

"She didn't answer."

"Oh" his voice barely came out and he felt his heart sink instantly. There was also the sudden sickening feeling of disappointment in his stomach.

"That means she likes you." Mikasa added.

"W-what?" Armin's head shot up.

"Bullshit." Eren interrupted.

"When I asked her, she seemed very flustered. I doubt she would admit it."

"No, Armin. Take this as a blessing! You've had a lucky escape…"

"Eren." Mikasa shot Eren a warning look, hadn't the advice she had given him sunk in?

"Ugh, never mind" Eren muttered and looked down, deciding to shut-up for his friend's sake.

"D-does it really mean she likes me?"

Mikasa nodded, "Well, from my perspective, it seems that she does have feelings for you."

Armin felt the blood rush to his face, could it really be true? Annie liked him in that way? Mikasa was smart and also female, therefore she was able to relate to girls and understand them better than he ever could.

When Armin went to school on Monday however, it was a completely different story. Annie avoided Armin like the plague all day. It looked like Mikasa was way off when she said that Annie had feelings for him. Annie didn't turn up to lunch either, and after ten minutes or so with no show, Eren and Mikasa joined him to spare him from sitting alone. The blond couldn't help but feel hurt.

_Maybe it's because she feels awkward about what happened on Friday? I have to reassure her that everything is okay_.

Despite wanting to put things straight, Armin didn't get the chance to talk to her all week. He wasn't sure how it was even possible, how could she escape him when they literally shared every class together? She had sat beside someone in every single lesson and he knew she was going out of her way to avoid him because she usually liked to sit by herself; she was a lone wolf, after all. He couldn't even catch up with her after class either, _maybe because she's so small and fast_. It was driving Armin insane. All he wanted to do was talk to her.

* * *

Annie missed Armin, she couldn't deny it. She missed him at lunch even though there was little conversation, she missed him tutoring her. She missed his smile, his voice. _What the hell, it's not like he's my boyfriend, so why do I feel like this!?_

She had decided that for Armin's own good she would cease contact with him. He deserved better than her. Annie knew part of it was also for her, because Armin was dangerous. She had reached that conclusion over a month ago. He could pry into her soul. He could get things out of her that she had thought would have been impossible for another human-being to do. Eventually, she would become completely vulnerable to him, and that wasn't a position she wanted to find herself in.

Throughout the course of the week Annie's emotions were extremely conflicted. There were times when she wanted to turn up to lunch and sit opposite him, she wanted to be selfish and not care what she had said to him last Friday. The other part of her thought it was best to just stay away from him. She had hurt his feelings and she had failed to be a good person to him, despite him thinking the best of her. He deserved someone better. Someone like the tiny blonde girl, Christa Renz, who shared their homeroom. Or Mina Carolina, a very sweet girl with silky black hair, who Annie had sat beside in class all week and found tolerable (and that was saying something). Even Sasha Braus, the weird girl who was obsessed with any potato-based food would have been better for him than her.

_Everything is just so hard. Dad continues to treat me like trash, I have to maintain my grades without Armin's help, on top of all of that I have to work in that shithole every weekend. I would quit the job if I didn't need the money. Why can't he just give me money for food like any normal father, instead of wasting it on alcohol for himself!?_

Annie felt tears of frustration form in her eyes as she sat in the library on Friday. She had decided to hide in there every day of the week at lunchtime to avoid Armin. She had half expected him to come and find her, but he didn't. A part of her couldn't help but feel disappointed.

* * *

"So I was thinking that we could go to this place called Winter Wonderland tomorrow." Eren said at the table as he was eating his lunch,

"It looks really good. They have an ice-skating rink." Mikasa added to encourage Armin.

"Yeah, and it's all German themed too," Eren smiled, "That means there'll be wurst…and beer."

"Eren, you're underage." Mikasa reminded and the brunet boy rolled his eyes.

"It sounds really cool." Armin sounded indifferent. If he didn't feel so down about Annie he would have been thrilled at the idea of going to Winter Wonderland. He could hardly believe it was already December, which meant Christmas was just around the corner.

"So you're in?"

"Yeah, why not." Armin nodded.

* * *

Around noon on Saturday the trio set off to Winter Wonderland. Ever since Eren had put forward the idea of going, Armin couldn't help but think about inviting Annie along. Though of course, on Friday she had shot out of school faster than he could blink. Still, it wasn't too late, was it?

"Guys," Armin began hesitantly, both Eren and Mikasa turned to their shorter friend, "Is it…okay if we invite Annie to come with us?"

"After she has been ignoring you all week?" Eren raised his brows.

Armin nodded, "Something happened at my house the Friday before last, and I'm quite sure that it is the reason she's been avoiding me. I just think it would be nice to invite her…"

"Well do you have her cell phone number, then?" Eren questioned, wanting to be a good friend but not actually wanting Annie Leonhardt to tag along.

"N-no, but I know where she lives."

"Where does she live?" Mikasa joined in the conversation.

"Well, to be honest, we are already heading in the direction of where she lives. It won't put us out, I promise."

"Alright…" Eren agreed reluctantly, and Mikasa nodded.

When coming face-to-face with a huge tower block of apartments, Eren was bewildered, "She really lives here!?"

Armin nodded, "Y-yeah, I was shocked too at first. But not everyone lives in big fancy houses, you know." Eren's father was a doctor so of course he lived in a nice home. Mikasa looked up at the building unperturbed, and didn't say anything.

"Well you guys can wait out here while I go and get her." the other two nodded, not really wanting to enter the building, anyway.

Armin took the stairs, going against the idea of taking the creaky elevator. He already felt adrenaline rushing through his veins so he figured climbing four flights of stairs wouldn't be _too_ difficult. When he reached the fourth floor, his heart was racing. It was not only due to walking up the stairs. He was terribly anxious, so anxious that he felt like backing out. _I've already come this far. I've dragged Eren and Mikasa all the way here, too. I have no choice. Come on Armin, don't be a coward. It's door 422_.

The blond walked slowly down the corridor until he stood outside Annie's door. He swallowed hard and took in a deep breath, _knock, now_. He reached his gloved hand to the door and knocked twice. There was a long pause. No answer. Armin knocked again, this time harder. Still nothing. _Oh that's right. She works at McDonalds on Saturdays _…_! I'm such an idi—_

"ANNIE! GET YOUR FUCKING ASS OUT OF BED AND ANSWER THE FUCKING DOOR…DID YOU HEAR ME!?...ANNIE!"

Armin's thoughts ceased when he heard a man's voice from the other side of the door. He blinked several times, _that must be her father…he sounds really mad, especially since I can hear him through this thick door_. Armin began to feel extremely uneasy, his stomach twisted in a horrible way and he felt like running down the corridor and out of the building. Despite feeling that way, he stuck around and waited. He figured Annie would answer. Or at least he hoped she'd answer, because if she didn't it was probable that he would come face-to-face with her disgruntled father, and that thought terrified him.

A few moments later, Armin heard the latch unlock and the door opened. If his heart wasn't racing fast enough already, it was now banging against his ribcage painfully. He felt his face flush red at the sight of Annie standing in front of him with a bedhead and wearing nothing but an oversized sweater and a pair of socks. He tried not to look down at her pale legs but he couldn't help it. He looked up quickly and saw that her crystal blue eyes were wide, her mouth was hanging open and her face had turned a deep red, too.

"What are you doing here?" it came out as a hushed whisper. Armin's curious blue eyes stared at her and she suddenly felt deeply self-conscious, she tried to hide behind the door out of shyness. She was mortified.

"I—" Armin couldn't speak. He felt so embarrassed and guilty. _I must have woken her up…!_

"Well!?" Annie snapped, she turned back to see if her father had crawled out from the living room and was relieved to find that he was still rotting in there. She faced Armin again while giving him the most threatening glare she was capable of. She wanted a reply. And fast.

"I-I'm sorry I woke you up…" Armin had to remember to keep his eyes on her face. It would be so rude for them to wander, even if the sight of Annie like this was absolutely adorable. "I j-just wanted to invite you to come to Winter Wonderland with me today. I-it's okay if you don't want to, though."

Annie couldn't actually believe what was happening to her. It was past noon, almost one o'clock on a Saturday afternoon, she was in nothing but her sleepwear, and there was Armin Arlert, the boy she had been avoiding for the past week at her doorstep. Her heart was racing, _this is…insane…!_ She couldn't even process what he had just said to her. Had he invited her somewhere? Why? Why was he here? She went to open her mouth, but nothing came out.

"Annie who is it!?" she heard her father's voice call from the living room. _Oh shit_. She looked back and forth frantically a couple of times, debating on what to do. _I have to get out of here, and fast_.

"Give me five minutes." Annie closed the door in Armin's face. He was confused to say the least.

Five minutes later, the door reopened and Annie returned. "Come on hurry up, let's go." She had combed her hair and it was up in her usual hairstyle again. She wore a jacket over her hoodie with jeans. She didn't have a hat or scarf despite the weather being bitterly cold, but she did have mittens on.

Annie walked down the corridor so fast that Armin could barely catch up with her. It was while she was walking that she managed to process everything that had just happened. _Why the fuck am I going somewhere with Armin Arlert? I seriously just accepted his offer. What happened to ignoring him from now on? I'm so tired. I must look like shit, too. But I had no choice, if I didn't act fast back then, dad would have come out. I can't let Armin know anything. Now I'm stuck doing whatever he has planned. I can't believe this…!_ Annie took the stairs and Armin followed her, struggling to keep up.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs she turned to Armin who looked out of breath. She didn't look pleased to say the least. She looked even more dissatisfied when she exited the building and saw Eren Jaeger and Mikasa Ackerman standing outside. The blonde turned to Armin, "What is going on?" she hissed.

Armin smiled awkwardly at her, "Uh well…"

"It's about time! Come on let's go!" Eren turned around and proceeded to walk away, Mikasa followed.

"Armin, explain." Annie was pissed. Beyond pissed.


	12. Chapter 12

When Armin invited Annie out, she had assumed it was going to be just the two of them. After all, he didn't mention Eren or Mikasa, or at least she was pretty sure he hadn't. If she had known they were involved too, she would never have agreed; she didn't want to go anywhere with his friends.

"Yesterday Eren and Mikasa asked me to go to Winter Wonderland with them. I t-thought it would be nice to invite you, too. But I didn't have your cell phone number so that's why I came to your house. I'm sorry if it was unexpected, I didn't mean to wake you or anything…" Armin explained as they walked along together, Eren and Mikasa were just slightly ahead.

"Why would the thought to invite me even cross your mind?" Annie looked at him sceptically. She was truly curious to why Armin wanted to spend any time with her. She had treated him like shit in his own home, even after he had been so kind to her. She had also spent the last week flat out ignoring the guy. "I don't think your friends like me, either." she added.

"I like you." Armin said a bit too quickly and felt his face heat up, "I m-mean, as a friend of course…"

"Whatever." Annie felt butterflies flutter in her stomach, it must have been the third time now. All she could do was turn away from him. She would never admit how his words had affected her.

Armin stared at her for several moments, "Hey um…I'd like to make it clear that you're my friend, Annie. I gathered the reason you have been avoiding me for the past week is because you feel awkward about what happened at my house. I want to reassure you that it's okay. I forgive you for what you said. We all act rashly and hurt each other at times, it's only natural. Besides, it was my fault for asking personal stuff that you weren't comfortable talking about. Maybe you feel like you've been a bad person to me and think you shouldn't hang out with me anymore, but please don't feel that way. I really want to continue hanging out…"

"I wasn't avoiding you. I was busy, that's why I didn't turn up to lunch." Annie lied through her teeth. She felt so exposed. How was he able to analyse her like that!? Was she really that black and white? She didn't think she was. It seemed like Armin was able to read her mind or something.

"Well…okay" the blond smiled, knowing full well that he was right once again.

Armin caught up with Eren and Mikasa and Annie was left trailing awkwardly behind them as they spoke between themselves for the rest of the journey there. Armin tried hard to include Annie but it was obvious she didn't belong with them. Eren Jaeger had something against her for sure. Mikasa was indifferent but Annie knew she would side with Eren in a heartbeat.

_What am I even doing here?_ The blonde thought over what Armin had said to her back there and looked down. When she looked up again her eyes fell upon the shortest of the trio and she found her answer, _I'm here for him_.

Winter Wonderland was set up in a park not too far away and when they arrived it came to Annie's attention that she had to pay a small fee for an entrance ticket. She didn't have any spare money because all the money she earned went towards food. Very rarely her father would give her cash since most of his went towards alcohol.

_Well, fuck. That was short-lived_.

Armin was nearing the ticket booth and just as she was about to tell him that she didn't have the money and therefore had to leave, he began to speak to the cashier.

"Can I have two tickets please." Armin handed over a few notes and was given two tickets in return. The blond then turned back to Annie, "Here you go" he was smiling at her as he handed her a ticket.

"You didn't have to…" Annie's eyes were wide in surprise, she took the ticket from his hand and couldn't help but feel happy.

"It's no problem." Armin had gathered that Annie was short on cash. He didn't want her to have to walk all the way back home, especially after he had woken her up to come in the first place. He felt obliged to buy her the ticket.

"So what do you want to do first?" Eren asked, though Annie knew the question was directed towards Armin and Mikasa and not her.

The blonde decided to just ignore Eren and looked around at her surroundings instead. The place was clearly all German themed and was highly festive. She could hear Christmas songs playing in the background and the amount of decorations that were put up was obnoxious. Fake snow scattered the ground but it wasn't like they even needed it since the real stuff would be around soon enough. There were stalls selling all kinds of seasonal gifts and food stalls selling German foods. Of course there were places where beer was available. Annie didn't want to go near those, she was sick of the sight of alcohol. _Yeah, all thanks to him and his love for that filth. He chooses that shit over his own daughter…I should stop thinking about him. I should just try and have fun for one day. Even though I am supposed to work tonight, I could say I was sick, it wouldn't get me fired. I just hope I'll be okay money-wise_. Annie observed the rides and stalls where people were able to play games to win prizes. To any kid, this was heaven. However, none of this really interested Annie much. It reminded her of her childhood, and quite frankly, she had outgrown all of this crap a long time ago.

"Annie is that okay with you?" Armin was suddenly beside her again.

"Huh?" she hadn't caught any of what was said. She felt like even more of an outsider than ever.

"We're going to the ice-rink first. Mikasa's idea." Armin smiled.

"What? No way. I can't ice-skate." Annie felt dread dawn on her. She had never once been ice-skating in her life, and there was no way in hell she was going to try it now.

"It's not _that_ hard. You just don't know how to have any fun…" Eren rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, says you. You're probably some reckless asshole who wants to get yourself severely injured or killed." Annie snapped back. She wasn't at work now so she could say whatever she wanted. What did he have against her, anyway? He didn't know anything about her.

"Eren, Armin, and I can go ice-skating while you sit out. Problem solved." Mikasa gave Annie the evil eye. The tall girl was quick to protect Eren even though all Annie had done was simply defend herself and say it how it was. She wasn't here to put up with bullshit from this brat.

"Y-you get the hang of it after a while, I've been a few times but I'm no expert. It will be fun, trust me!" Armin quickly said in an attempt to ease the tension.

"No." Annie shook her head and looked down. She had not signed up for this.

"Please? I promise I won't let you fall."

Annie made the mistake of looking into Armin's large, pleading eyes. _Manipulative little shit_. There was a longish pause while the blonde tried to remain stubborn, but she eventually gave in. "…Fine" Annie mumbled almost inaudibly.

"Great!" Armin exclaimed and went to hug her but stopped when he realised what he was doing. Annie looked up at him confused, while Armin's face turned bright red. "Uh…I'm g-glad you're going to give it a try. It's really fun! One time I fell over, it hurt, haha…" Armin rambled in an attempt to cover up the fact that he was just about to do something stupid.

"Just make sure that this time, you don't fall over." Annie warned and Armin nodded.

"Alright then, let's go! We have to collect our boots and that takes forever so come on!" Eren was already on the move again.

The four of them queued up to exchange their shoes for ice-skating boots and after around fifteen minutes or so, they were all set to go onto the rink. Annie felt anxious, not that she showed it. She was already struggling to walk to the rink in those heavy ice-skates. It wasn't the weight so much that was the problem, it was the ridiculously thin blade that balanced her. God only knew how she was going to cope once she actually stepped onto the ice. She was probably going to wind up flat on her ass and acquire even more bruises than she already had. Then again, Armin had promised to make sure that wouldn't happen, had he not? It was very brave of him to promise something like that, and for some foolish reason, she trusted him.

Annie watched as Eren was the first out onto the ice, he stumbled and nearly fell over but once he caught his balance he was alright. Mikasa was quick to follow behind, and much to Annie's dismay, the taller girl was a natural. Mikasa did not even hold onto the railing as she stepped onto the rink and began to skate around gracefully. _You've got to be kidding me_.

"Annie, take my hand." Annie turned to Armin and couldn't hide the faint blush that crept onto her cheeks at his demand. She took his gloved hand and he wrapped his around hers tightly.

Armin stepped out first and held onto the railing with one hand. Annie hesitantly followed and she felt her legs wobble as she stood on the ice. Ice-skating had to be one of the most dangerous sports out there. _Crap, I'm going to die, I know it_. Annie grabbed hold of the railing with one hand, while the other was squeezing Armin's. "How do people even skate?" she muttered, the blond boy just chuckled.

"I'll show you." Armin smiled. Annie was not ready for this. "Come on" Armin let go of the railing. His movements were steady, because he was being extra careful, but this did little to put Annie's mind at rest.

"No, Armin, wait…" Annie panicked as she was pulled a long by the boy.

"Don't worry, I've got you" at that moment, Armin sounded so confident and Annie really couldn't hide the fact that she was blushing.

Her legs shook beneath her and in fear of falling she grabbed his entire arm and clung onto him. "Armin, don't let me fall." there was the hint of a threat in her tone but Annie didn't look threatening at all. In fact, she looked the complete opposite.

"I won't. I promised you, didn't I?" Armin's heart was pounding against his chest because Annie was literally all over him. Her grip was so tight on his arm that it hurt, not that he even cared. The pain was worth it.

"Annie you have to try and move your legs, I can't do all the work." the blond said softly, not wanting to annoy her but trying to get the point across. As it was, they were just standing in the middle of the rink.

"I'm trying!" she retorted. It didn't help that Mikasa had passed by them twice after having done two complete loops of the rink. "What is she…a figure skater or something?" Annie mumbled as the Asian girl passed by them for the third time.

Armin suppressed the urge to laugh, "It seems that way, doesn't it." _Is Annie jealous? That's so cute_.

After a while Annie got the hang of it, all thanks to Armin's help. Of course she was still clinging to him, not that he minded in the slightest; in fact he was thoroughly enjoying it.

After going around the full rink once, Armin smiled at Annie, "See, it's not so hard once you get the hang of it. It's fun isn't it?"

"Mhm" was Annie's reply, "…I wouldn't have been able to do it without your help though." she added quietly.

Annie didn't find the ice-skating itself fun at all, what she did enjoy was being attached to Armin's arm. She had to admit that being so close to the boy gave her feelings that she had never experienced before. Her heart was racing the entire time and she felt somewhat anxious. It wasn't only because of her fear of falling, either.

"I would have never have guessed that someone like you would be so scared of ice-skating." Armin had thought Annie was fearless, but he was wrong. She was just a normal girl with her own weaknesses after all.

"We're never speaking of this again, got it?" the last thing she wanted was for him to harp on about the fact that she was too much of a wimp to ice-skate by herself.

"Got it." Armin smiled hoping that she was enjoying herself as much as he was.

They skated around the rink together, never changing the position and little was said between them. It was never an uncomfortable silence, thankfully. Eventually Eren joined up with them and Annie was terrified he would try and steal Armin away from her. There was no way she could stand on her own, let alone skate. _Either I look like a stupid loser, or we both look like some lovey-dovey couple going around like this_.

"Armin, I'll race you from one end of the rink to the other." Eren requested.

Armin looked down at Annie who gave him a ludicrous look, "I can't" he said, he wouldn't leave Annie. He had promised to make sure she didn't fall.

Eren turned to the blonde who was clinging to Armin and frowned, "Can't you stand on your own for two minutes?"

"Can't you shut the hell up?" Annie retaliated. There was no way she was going to skate by herself. So what if she looked helpless and stupid? It wasn't going to happen. The sooner Eren Jaeger realised this, the better.

Suddenly Mikasa glided towards the three, "Forty minutes is almost up, we had better make our way off of the ice now."

Eren glared at the small blonde girl, who was already giving him evils, "Great, now I won't be able to have a race."

"That doesn't sound like a safe or sensible idea, so it's probably for the best that you didn't get to do it." Mikasa scolded.

"Are you going to cling to Armin like that for the rest of the day?" Eren addressed Annie again, while ignoring Mikasa, as they all made their way off the ice.

"Hey Eren, please don't be a jerk…" Armin interjected.

Annie didn't say anything. Why couldn't he just leave her alone? She was perfectly capable of kicking his ass off of the ice, so why did he feel the need to provoke her like that?

"Sorry." Eren mumbled quietly. He didn't really mean it, but he admitted that maybe he was being slightly unreasonable.

After returning their boots Annie started to feel cold. She was sensitive to the cold at the best of times and it was freezing. She had managed to stay warm on the ice simply from being so close to Armin, which had allowed her to benefit from his body heat. Unfortunately she didn't own a hat or scarf like the rest of them.

"Annie your nose is all red…do you feel cold?" Armin observed.

"Well yeah, it has to be one degree or less…" she said grumpily, she really despised the cold with a passion. She realised she must have looked ridiculous, too.

"Let's get something to eat then, it will warm you up. Guys, do you want to eat now?" Armin asked Eren and Mikasa who both nodded in agreement. Ice-skating had used up a lot of energy and they were hungry.

_How about you just come closer to me again?_ Annie felt her face heat up at the thought. _Did I honestly just think that?_ The things that were crossing her mind lately were really scaring her.

"I want wurst" Eren announced as they scanned the food stalls.

"What do you want, Annie?" Armin looked down at her as they walked. The blonde girl simply shrugged, it wasn't like she had the money for anything, even if she wanted it.

In the end, Eren ended up buying a wurst hotdog, Mikasa and Armin decided to get the same, instead of just one though, Armin bought two.

"Armin…you really didn't have to buy me anything" Annie said as they looked for a table.

"It's okay, I honestly don't mind." Armin's smile was so warm-hearted.

"Thank you…" Annie sat down at a table, feeling somewhat guilty that Armin was always doing such kind things for her.

To say it was awkward at the table would have been an understatement. Eren and Mikasa were pretty silent with Annie sitting beside Armin. It had been just the three of them for such a long time that they weren't used to having another person around. It didn't help that Annie was hostile and reluctant to talk to anyone. Surprisingly, the silence was broken when Armin managed to get tomato sauce on his face and Annie giggled quietly. Eren and Mikasa glanced at each other with surprised expressions. Just like Armin that day at lunch, they had never expected Annie Leonhardt to crack a smile, let alone laugh.

"What is it with you and getting food on your face?" the blonde stated while handing him a tissue. Armin was blushing like crazy again and quickly wiped it away.

Annie felt stupid afterwards. She really did not understand that ability of Armin's to make her laugh. It was at the silliest things, too. It was as if the blond was able to unlock something within her, something hidden deep inside that would have been almost impossible to unleash. Yet, he had somehow managed to do it. She was able to forget about her life and her father when she was with Armin, if only for just a few minutes. She was so thankful for that and he would never even know it.

After everyone had finished their food, the trio and Annie spent the rest of their time trailing around the stalls and playing games to try and win prizes. It would have been pretty intolerable for the petite blonde if not for Armin. Annie just watched, she wasn't into those games, and she didn't have the money to waste on them. She pretty much completely ignored Eren and Mikasa who seemed to be good at winning crappy prizes and instead focussed all of her attention on their shorter friend. It must have been blatantly obvious and most likely everyone noticed, including Armin himself, but Annie couldn't help but stare.

"D-do you want to give this game a shot?" Armin addressed her, it was a stupid game that involved shooting cans off of a shelf. Annie shook her head and continued to watch Armin as he proceeded to play and fail at it. She tried her best to ignore how absolutely freezing she felt. She knew that her nose was probably as red as that famous reindeer's by now. As the afternoon turned into evening, the cold really hit Annie hard and her teeth even began to chatter. She wasn't at awe with the beautiful Christmas lights that lit up the place, unlike everyone else.

The next stop was some sort of confectionery stall. Eren and Mikasa both bought seasonal treats while Armin stood back. The blond boy looked down to Annie who was visibly shaking by now. "You're really cold aren't you…?" there was concern in his voice, he didn't know what to do. Annie simply nodded. "Well, did you have fun today at least?" he decided to add.

"Yeah, I did." she was being honest, she really had had fun. It was the first time in a long time, too. Even if the place wasn't exactly what she would call entertaining and Eren was an asshole, being with Armin had made it worthwhile. Not that she was going to admit that.

"D-do you think we should hang out like this again sometime?" Armin paused trying to gather the courage to express himself. He took a deep breath and then exhaled, "I m-mean, just the two of us?" his question made her turn and look up at him directly. Her pale blue eyes blinked several times, processing what he had said.

"I…" she began, but Eren and Mikasa walked over and she immediately stopped whatever she was about to say.

"It's getting kind of late, we should head back now" Eren announced.

Armin wanted to scream. Annie was just about to answer him and his friend had ruined the moment! "Well you guys can go on ahead, I'm going to walk Annie home" he said quickly without even asking her if that was okay.

"Alright, man. Whatever floats your boat, see you on Monday." Eren got the hint. He thought he may as well leave Armin be; he had seen a slightly different side to Annie that made him feel a bit more at ease about the fiery girl. Mikasa gave Armin a wave goodbye and they made their way home ahead.

Annie remained silent. She didn't go back to whatever she was going to say in reply to Armin's question. Her mind was racing. Technically, Armin had just asked her out. She really wanted to, but at the same time it was the last thing she wanted or needed. Her life was already complicated enough. If she was going to go out with Armin, it would make it inevitable that he would find out about her abusive father. She had never felt so conflicted in her entire life, she wanted to push him away and at the same time she wanted to be closer to him than any other human on the planet.

Armin kept glancing at her, waiting and hoping for her to speak. He felt awkward when she just remained silent and didn't even bother to look at him as they walked. Both of them were in deep thought throughout the whole journey back to Annie's and when they neared the tall building, Armin was suddenly reminded of her father's angry voice earlier on that day. He wondered if she would receive the same treatment when she got back. The thought made him deeply sad and he had a horrible sickening feeling inside his stomach knowing that she probably would. The blond came to a stop just several metres from the door and Annie turned to him, looking confused. Why had he stopped there? Wasn't he going to walk her to the door and follow her upstairs?

"Annie…" he said quietly, "Can you please answer my question?"

The blonde was shaking from the cold and hesitated to speak. She stared at Armin intensely and wanted to say yes, she would like to go out. However, after several moments, the words that fell out of her mouth were ones she strongly regretted. At the same time, they were most likely the sensible ones, "Armin, I don't think—"

She was cut off when Armin suddenly embraced her. He wrapped his arms around her gently and her eyes widened in shock. It took a few moments for her brain to process what was going on. When it sunk in, she felt her heart begin to race and her face heat up. "What are you doing?" her voice was very quiet, Armin just about heard her.

"I-I'm trying to keep you warm. I can't bear to see you shake like that anymore." Armin was frightened. He had just interrupted Annie because he knew she was going to say something he really didn't want to hear. It was also true that he wanted to keep her warm. He wanted to always be there to keep her warm. He prayed she would start hugging him back before his heart gave out on him, he was almost certain she could hear it banging against his chest.

Annie could feel warmth radiating from him, his embrace felt so pleasurable. Slowly, without thinking straight, she raised her arms and wrapped them around his torso. Hugging was something very unfamiliar to Annie, it felt strange and she thought back to the last person she had shared the experience with. It was then that she realised the last person she had hugged had been her mother. At that thought, Annie buried her face into Armin's chest and inhaled his scent.

She changed her mind and decided she wouldn't do the sensible thing. She wouldn't reject him. If she hadn't felt so anxious and embarrassed, she would have loved to stay like that all night long.


	13. Chapter 13

Annie was woken by rays of sunlight shining through her window, their warmth melted the ice and water trickled down the pane. Her cheeks were not damp from cried tears, which was odd considering that nearly most days she would wake in that condition after having been crying in her sleep. The tears were usually triggered by a bad dream about her mother or father. She never understood it, because she rarely cried when she was conscious, without good reason of course. As she sat up and rubbed at her eyes she felt peaceful, that feeling was completely alien to her. The feeling was nice while it lasted but unfortunately it was short-lived. The blonde soon started to panic: it was Sunday and she had to work. She had been blessed the previous night after returning home to find out that her father had already passed out; it meant that she was able to have a nice long bath and then go straight to bed without any trouble. What time was it now though? She couldn't afford to be late, considering she didn't even show up yesterday.

Judging by the strong rays of sunlight that had managed to melt the ice, it was already well into the afternoon. She was supposed to be there in the morning. Annie pulled back her blanket and stepped out of bed, her father had smashed her alarm clock a few weeks back in a drunken rage of his, so all she had to rely on was a cheap old watch that she needed to find ASAP.

"No…" she muttered upon finding the watch, she ran a hand through her messy blonde hair, and suddenly felt sick with dread. It was already well past noon. _How did this happen!?_

* * *

"You're fired." her manager said in a blasé manner, the snobby woman did not so much as look at her.

"What?" Annie couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had literally just run all the way to McDonalds, only to be told she was fired. She couldn't be fired, she needed this job.

"Look, you heard me. You didn't bother turning up yesterday and you are extremely late today. This is also not the first time you've been late, is it Miss Leonhardt?"

"It won't happen again, ma'am." Annie felt herself start to shake.

Her manager turned to her, "Yes, you're quite right," she scoffed, "It won't because you're fired. I would give you another chance but I've already had several complaints about you being rude to customers. There are simply no more allowances I can make for you."

The blonde knew there was no reasoning with the woman. She had been a bitch right from the start and Annie saw red. She ripped off her apron and threw it at her manager which caused the older woman to gasp; the hat was next to come off and Annie stomped on it. She could vaguely hear her manager shout after her as she made a run for it out of the restaurant, it was something about her behaviour being unacceptable and that she was banned. It was true that she had been rude to a few customers, but they had deserved it. They were being rude to her in the first place and she simply could not hold back her temper. She really needed to work on her patience.

Annie ran down the street with tears streaming down her face, not caring at the looks she was receiving from passers-by, she was just so angry and upset. She wasn't exactly even sure where her legs were taking her, however, she was certain that she wasn't going home. The wind was bitterly cold against her cheeks that were wet from freshly spilt tears, the temperature was enough to freeze them and create small ice crystals on her eyelashes. She wanted to find warmth, and so she just kept running. Eventually she came to a stop outside a familiar house. What had brought her here? She wondered. Annie wiped away any evidence that she had been crying. She slowly walked up to the door and reality suddenly hit her in the face. She felt like turning back, because lord only knew what had brought her to Armin Arlert's house.

_Am I forgetting what happened yesterday?_ Of course Annie hadn't forgotten. The slim, blond-haired, blue-eyed boy had been on her mind pretty much non-stop since then.

Annie brought a hesitant hand to the door and knocked once, half hoping no one would answer. It didn't take long for the door to open.

"Oh! Annie? Nice to see you dear, I gather you are here to see Armin?" Armin's grandfather greeted her, she could see the surprised look in his face. Annie simply nodded, she felt terribly awkward. She wished it had been Armin who had answered the door.

"Come in, come in, you'll catch a death if you stand outside any longer." the old man took a step back so that Annie could come inside. He closed the door behind her and then called upstairs, "Armin! You have a guest!" his grandfather then left to go into the kitchen and Annie was left standing in the hallway alone. She remembered it was custom to remove her shoes while in Armin's house so she did just that while waiting for the blond to appear. When she heard footsteps on the stairs she turned to look up and saw Armin, whose eyes were wide.

"A-Annie?" he stopped halfway down the stairs, he could feel his face heat up ever so slightly. "What are you doing here?" Armin was completely stunned.

Annie shrugged, "I...I don't really know." what exactly was she doing there anyway? Something inside of her had led her to see the boy.

Armin raised his eyebrows and walked down the rest of the stairs, he came to stand beside her, "W-well...do you want to come upstairs? I was just finishing my homework."

"Okay." Annie was suddenly reminded that she had a ton of homework to do. She hadn't even started any of it, and there was Armin, just finishing his. Of course that was expected, he was such a good student after all.

Armin felt his heart thrashing against his chest. It looked like Annie wanted to spend time with him, just like he had requested yesterday evening after spending the day at Winter Wonderland with her. Or maybe something was wrong? Maybe Annie was here for a different reason and she just hadn't told him yet? Whatever it was, Armin couldn't help but feel ecstatic, but also somewhat nervous.

Annie hesitated at Armin's bedroom door. She noticed that all of his books and papers were sprawled out across his desk. He was without a doubt going to get an A grade on all of that work. He was going to graduate top of the class and go to college and become really successful in life. Annie on the other hand was probably not going to achieve half of that, but then again, all she wanted at the end of the day was to be as far away from her father as possible. If she could accomplish that at least, she would be happy.

Armin stood near his desk and looked back to Annie who was still hovering at the door, "Y-you can come and sit down." he offered, realising that she felt awkward.

"Where?" Annie scanned the room, there was either a bean bag, or his bed.

"Well, Eren usually sits on that bean bag there..." Armin directed his eyes towards it.

Annie suddenly had other ideas, "How about you get another chair so I can sit at the desk too?" she definitely wasn't thinking straight and her pale cheeks tinged pink. _  
_

"H-huh? Oh, sure! J-just wait a second." Armin left the room to get a second chair before the blonde could change her mind.

He returned a minute later and placed the chair beside his own. Armin sat down and Annie approached the desk slowly, strongly regretting even suggesting that she sit there.

She didn't utter a word as she sat down. Annie was so close to the blond boy that she was brushing against him, she wanted to be considerate, so she decided to move her chair slightly to the side so that he would have space to write.

"You don't mind that I finish this, do you? It won't take long, I promise." Armin asked her, because he would drop it in an instant if she wanted to do something else.

Annie shook her head, "It doesn't bother me, just continue." after all, she had turned up at his house uninvited.

The blond boy found it extremely hard to concentrate on algebra with the girl he had a huge crush on staring at him. He tried hard to fight back the blush that was on his cheeks as he rattled his brain for the answers he knew would have come easy to him, if she wasn't in his bedroom, sitting right beside him, and staring at him relentlessly with her beautiful harsh blue eyes.

Annie hadn't realised that the simple action was causing him so much trouble. She couldn't help but admire his features, it was then that it dawned on her that he was very good-looking. He had one of the cutest noses she had seen in her life.

Eventually, Armin managed to solve all of the problems in his math book and closed it. "Done" he turned to her and smiled. The blush was still present on his cheeks as his eyes met hers. Annie suddenly felt those butterflies flutter inside her stomach again, his eyes were just so large and deep.

"Did I...", Annie paused feeling slightly uncomfortable, "ever thank you for helping me out with my studies before?" Armin blinked in response and Annie realised that she hadn't even had the common decency to do that. She was awful. "Well...thanks. It really helped me get the principal off my back. He was threatening to contact my dad..." _Oh_. She had said too much, she hadn't meant to bring up her father.

"Oh...w-well it's no problem, any time..." Armin looked down to his desk briefly and then looked back up to the blonde girl, "Hey, Annie...what's your dad like?" Armin was really curious, but he worried about her reaction to the question.

Annie had a sudden flashback of the last time she was in Armin's bedroom, when he had asked her about her parents and the topic had gotten onto her mother. This time it was her fault, though. Why had she let her father slip into the conversation? She wanted to slap herself.

"I don't want to talk about him." she said it firmly and diverted her gaze slightly away from Armin's eyes. Annie tucked her hands under the sleeves of her hoodie and folded her arms across her chest.

"I heard him yesterday..." Armin admitted and Annie's heart skipped a beat.

Her blue eyes shot back up to meet Armin's. She didn't say anything, and tried her best to read his facial expression. Did he know anything? Had he put the pieces of the puzzle together? "Don't give it a second thought." she muttered after several moments but Annie knew with that brain of his, he had probably given it one thousand thoughts and drawn one million conclusions. This was it. She was going to lose him. There was no way he would stick around and deal with her shitty problems.

Armin furrowed his brows, he wanted to reach out to her, but she had folded her arms tightly across her chest as if to put up a barrier between them. All he wanted to do was hold her hand to comfort her. "Annie, I really care about you...please, believe me."

He was reading her mind again, but how could she be sure of what he was saying? "Armin, stop." Annie raised her voice slightly, but she felt something cold trickle down her cheek. _No...I can't cry, not right in front of him._ It was too late, because the tears were already streaming down her face.

"A-Annie, what's wrong?" Armin was worried and Annie saw the panic in his eyes. Why was she crying? Had he said something wrong?

"I got fired." she hadn't intended to open her mouth, instead she had planned to stay silent, but somehow the words had made their way out.

"O-oh..." that was very unexpected, and slightly off topic, "Um, what happened? If you d-don't mind me asking." this time Armin really did reach out to her. He wrapped his gentle fingers around her forearm, only hoping she wouldn't slap him away this time.

"It was the bitch manager." she felt Armin's touch but refused to budge from her defensive position, however, this time unlike last, she did not make an attempt to push him away. After all, after yesterday she saw little point in trying to get rid of him, she didn't mind his touch. She enjoyed it. "I just really needed that job." Annie added quietly as she downcast her view. She didn't know why she was telling him all of this.

Armin tried to soothe her by softly grazing his thumb over the same spot on her arm and caressed gently with his fingers. He didn't know what to say to make her feel better, he felt pathetic. It was probably the first time he had been in a position to do something, but all he was able to do was sit and watch her tears while he felt his heart breaking.

"Annie..." he whispered softly. He wanted to be able to make her smile more than anything. She was so beautiful, even when she was crying. It was then that it suddenly hit him. _Of course, why didn't I think of it sooner!?_ "Annie, if you need a job, I can ask my grandpa if it's okay for you to work at his bookshop. In fact, I'm sure he'd be happy to hire you!"

Annie's eyes widened and there was a long pause, "Are you being serious?" she blinked and felt her heart beat escalate, it was as if it was going to burst from her chest. Annie watched Armin smile and nod his head in confirmation. She was speechless for a few moments, "Armin, you don't know how much this means to me."

The blond boy really didn't know how important it was for her, and Annie wasn't about to tell him the details. She felt so overwhelmed with gratitude at that moment and the feelings she was experiencing were foreign to her. That warm-hearted smile, the pure kindness, the sincerity in his eyes... at that moment she realised what she was experiencing must have been what people call love. She knew it, she was falling in love with the boy and there was nothing she could do about it.


	14. Chapter 14

"Where are you going?" the voice made her shudder. The blonde stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned around to her father, who was standing by the door of the living room. Why did he care?

"Work."

"You got fired from that job in McDonalds though, didn't you? So tell me Annie, where the fuck do you think you're going?" her father wasn't intoxicated. He was just being an asshole.

"I told you last week!" Annie raised her voice. All that alcohol must have been corroding his brain because she had explained to him last weekend that she had a new job.

Her father suddenly lunged towards her and Annie let out a gasp. The man grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her towards him. He tightened his grasp and it felt as if he was going to snap her fragile limb in two. _Getting away with a simple bruise will be getting off lightly at this rate._

"Look, bitch. How many times have I told you not to use that tone with me?"

"Let go of me, I'm going to be late." Annie needed to keep her cool. She knew how temperamental her father was. He wasn't drunk this time (which was a rare occurrence). He was just irritable from craving his precious alcohol, she didn't even know what was worse.

The man saw red and smashed her back against the wall. Annie let out a yelp and squirmed in discomfort.

"Little shit. If you're in that much of a rush, I hope you won't even bother coming back! How does that fucking sound?" he snarled angrily. She had really aggravated him this time. Annie remained silent and glared at him through the pain. He tightened his grip even further on her arm, obviously not approving of the look that was on her face.

Annie's eyebrows scrunched together, "Sounds great" she muttered it under her breath but of course he heard. He raised his free hand and grabbed the bun in her hair. Her father then ripped out the hair tie and pulled down aggressively. Annie cried out and she felt tears of pain form in her eyes.

"What the fuck did you say?" His face contorted in pure rage and she was scared he was going to rip the hair right out of her skull.

"Why did you force me into going to those Judo classes and help build me up if you were just going to use your strength against me to knock me back down again!?" the words spilled from her mouth. Annie felt like screaming and kicking him, but she had learnt her lesson from the last time she had started screaming and lashing out. She had received a black eye for it. She watched her father's angry face morph into one of disgust.

"You may look like your mother, but you're nothing like her. You're nothing but a poisonous bitch, a bitter reminder." The man sneered and released both her hair and arm. Annie was tempted to retort back but she wasn't stupid, it would have been very foolish to say something considering that he was absolutely fuming. He had released her, so now was her chance to escape. "Go on. Get out of my fucking sight. Ungrateful little cunt." his voice was low and Annie ran.

* * *

"What book do you have there?" Armin's voice made the blonde girl jump, she hadn't heard the door. Just like last weekend, he said he would come by and keep her company while she worked on her shift.

Annie was taking her break and had decided to take a look at one of the books there. The one she picked up was about astrology. She had always thought that horoscopes were stupid, but this book interested her. The blond boy leaned over her to take a closer look and she blushed lightly as she felt him brush against her.

"It's about astrology." The pale girl's eyes remained on the book as she answered him.

"Oh, when is your birthday, Annie?" It was shocking how little he knew about the girl, especially since they spent so much time together.

"March 22nd. Yours?" she asked, throwing the question back at him.

"November 3rd, so, you're still fifteen?"

"No. I'll be seventeen on my next birthday." Annie's cheeks tinged pink in embarrassment.

"Oh" Armin was surprised that she was older than everyone else in their grade, but he didn't question it.

"I had to repeat a grade because I missed a lot of school last year. I had to care for my mom." Annie's tone was abrupt, she knew Armin was curious and decided to just get it over with and explain.

"Ah, I u-understand…So what star sign does that make you?" Armin quickly turned the conversation away from the path it was heading and decided to focus on the book again. He wondered if their zodiac signs were compatible, he didn't know much about the topic. How amazing would it be to find out that they were destined to be together by the stars?

"I'm an Aries and you're a Scorpio. According to this, I'm a fire sign and you're a water sign…" she laughed, because this meant they were complete opposites.

"Oh. I guess that makes us…incompatible?" he sounded somewhat disappointed.

"I don't really believe in this stuff…" she stated, "Who cares if it's not written in the stars?" Annie felt herself blush lightly and looked back down to the book, avoiding looking at Armin.

"I guess" _we can always make it work._ "Well…what does it say about our signs?"

The blonde scanned the book for the section that listed information about each sign, "Aries are independent, generous, courageous, intelligent, short-tempered, impulsive and impatient…" she paused feeling somewhat awkward because a lot of the traits listed matched her personality. "Scorpio…let me see. Loyal, passionate, observant, dynamic, manipulative, suspicious and unyielding. That's both the positive and negative characteristics…" Annie looked up at Armin and they both blinked.

"That's very intriguing." Armin smiled softly, "I think you match your sign."

"You too…But I still don't believe in any of this crap. It's just a coincidence." Annie shut the book and went to put it back on the shelf. "Though, I admit it's interesting."

After break, Annie got back to work. She had to admit it was way better than working in McDonalds. It was nice that Armin was there the whole time, asking her if she needed help and chatting with her about all sorts of things. She didn't like it so much when he asked questions about her though, and preferred to listen to him ramble on about a book or a country he wanted to visit.

It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, though. Annie hadn't told Armin anything about her father, continued to hide the bruises, and dismissed him when he tried to ask her about it. She knew that he was suspicious and curious, but she didn't want him to know anything. She didn't want anyone to find out. One thing she was certain: she would rather endure the abuse than be pitied by people. Surely if Armin found out, he would tell that loud mouth Eren Jaeger, and then the whole school would be talking about her behind her back.

That wasn't even the main concern. It was probable that Armin would no longer even want to be associated with her if he found out the truth. Her father didn't support her mother in her time of need; instead, he turned his back on them both. So who was to say that Armin would stay? He was so gifted, a complete and utter genius. He had a bright future ahead of him. Why would he stick around and be dragged down by her shit? Annie couldn't help but feel slightly guilty about constantly lying to him, though. She didn't know if they were in a relationship or not, but she knew they were something more than just friends. He was a nice guy who didn't really deserve to be lied to. This was exactly why she hadn't even wanted to get close to anyone in the first place. It was too late now though, because it had got to the point where she didn't think she could live without him. She had fallen for him, and hard.

"I'll help you with those books." Armin offered as usual. It wasn't like Annie needed the help. The girl was perfectly capable herself and undoubtedly stronger than he was despite being much smaller in size.

"You don't need to help me, Armin. Your grandfather is paying me to do this job." she rolled her eyes but her lips curved up into a small smile.

"I know…" Armin blushed "but I like helping you." He came towards her and took half of the books she was carrying. Annie let out a sigh but thanked him anyway.

"H-hey Annie…" Armin placed the books down on the counter and paused. He didn't really know what to make of his relationship with the girl. Were they a thing now? Neither of them had really confirmed it.

Even Eren was curious. His best friend couldn't make out what was going on with Armin and the antisocial 'bitch' as he liked to put it (obviously when he was out of Armin's earshot).

" _Have you kissed yet"?_

" _No."_

Of course Armin wanted to. The thought of pressing his lips against Annie's soft-looking, cute, pink ones was enough to make his breathing become heavy.

"Yeah…?" there was curiosity and a hint of impatience in her tone, she wondered why Armin hadn't continued with whatever he was about to say. His face was all flustered, too.

"Um," he diverted his gaze "do you want to go and get a hot chocolate or something after your shift here is finished?"

Annie felt her heart beat escalate, it looked as if they were finally going to just hang out. Not at school, not at work, but out of their own free will. "Sure." her cheeks tinged pink.

After it turned five, Armin locked up the bookshop and the two of them made their way to a small coffee shop nearby. It was already dark by now, and also freezing cold. Armin noticed that Annie didn't have a hat or scarf again, and for someone who was affected so badly by the cold, it must have been torture for her. He knew what he'd be getting her for Christmas.

The shop's interior looked beautiful, especially with all of the Christmas decorations put up. It was also incredibly warm and cosy, which Annie was thankful for. Armin opted for the hot chocolate and upon asking the blonde what she wanted, Annie simply shrugged and said that she would have whatever he was having. The couple took a seat at a table in an isolated corner of the shop and Armin removed all of his outer garments. Annie took off her jacket and mittens but the hoodie remained, as usual. Armin hadn't seen her in anything different. It wasn't always the same hoodie of course; she had a white one which seemed to be her favourite because she wore it the most. She also owned a grey-white striped one and a light blue that matched the colour of her eyes perfectly. There was _something_ different about Annie today, though.

"I noticed you left your hair down. It looks really pretty." Armin complimented. Annie had always tied it back and although the hairstyle really suited her and showed off her face, her hair looked undeniably beautiful while resting on her shoulders.

"Huh…? Oh…thanks…." Annie felt herself blush, his words had caught her off guard and she brought both her hands to place the golden strands behind her ears. She could still feel pain on the back of her head from where her father had ripped her hair tie out earlier that day. She hadn't had the time to go back and get another one to tie it back.

Armin continued to stare at the girl sat opposite him and admired her features. He watched as she looked down and wrapped her hands around the cup of hot chocolate, avoiding his gaze.

"I think you are beautiful." Armin's voice was soft and sincere as he spoke, as always. He watched Annie's face flush bright red.

"…Thanks…" she mumbled, not even looking up at him. She hadn't expected him to say something like that.

"It's true. I really do think you're beautiful." Armin assured her, in case she didn't believe him. "Oh, and your nose is so cute." The last comment was enough to make Annie feel like exploding.

"…Stop…" she grumbled, feeling the temperature of her face rise even more. What was he trying to do? Make her die of embarrassment? _I bet he wouldn't find those bruises beautiful._ The thought that suddenly crossed her mind made her heart lurch, because it was true. What guy would find that attractive?

Armin laughed softly, "I'm sorry for making you feel embarrassed. I just wanted you to know." His face was glowing red.

There was an awkward silence while they sat and sipped at the hot chocolate. After several minutes, Annie had the courage to look up at him again. He gave her a soft smile and she couldn't help but smile back. Armin absolutely adored that smile of hers and he thought it was a shame that it was so rare.

"D-do you want to go somewhere else after we finish here?" Armin suggested. He was feeling confident today.

"Um, wait a sec." Annie suddenly started to feel unbearably hot, most likely because of Armin. She guessed she could remove her hoodie, she had a long-sleeved striped top on underneath. "I have to get out of this" she mumbled while pulling the garment over her head. As she went about taking it off, she did not realise that she accidentally pulled up the top she had on underneath along with the hoodie.

Armin's eyes were instinctively drawn to her bare skin. He was absolutely horrified. Black and purple marks scattered her tiny waist and ribs in harsh contrast to her pale skin. Annie still hadn't noticed what had happened and her bra was now visible, "A-Annie…!"

When she realised, Annie felt like screaming. Why did this shit have to happen to her? _Why is the entire universe constantly going against me!?_ She quickly pulled the hoodie back down before Armin could see anything more. She swallowed hard and her facial expression portrayed a mixture of hopelessness and a frown. Judging by his face, he must have seen those bruises. _I give up. I just give up. I don't care anymore._ Her eyes met the table and she felt like crying. She looked up again when she felt his hand reach over the table and rest on her arm.

He was smiling. That smile didn't meet his eyes though so she knew something was up. "It's okay, Annie."

"What's okay?" she was confused. As far as she was concerned, nothing was okay.

"Um…you don't need to feel embarrassed about your body or anything."

Armin knew if he mentioned those bruises, she would flip out. Of course it was because of her father. It wasn't rocket science, it was obvious. It had been obvious all along. The reluctance to talk about her personal life, the time he had actually heard her father yelling at her, the unexplained bruises — she had said she got them when she did Judo, but when did she even get the time for that anyway? Armin hadn't fully believed her a month ago when she told him, but he wanted to. He didn't want to believe in the worst case scenario. He didn't want to imagine her being hit. He couldn't. She was so small and pretty and didn't deserve it. He was furious, more than he had ever been in his entire life but he had to control himself for her. Armin knew what had to be done. First, he had to cover up the fact that he saw anything.

"Huh?" Annie's face flushed red again. What was he on about? He had for sure seen those bruises. He had to know something, didn't he? Armin was smart, of course he must have realised what was going on by now. So why was he sitting there and smiling at her like that?

"P-please don't be ashamed. It was only an accident, I d-didn't even look." A blush erupted across his cheeks.

Annie just stared. So he wasn't going to bring it up? _This is weird._ She had to leave. This was too much for her to try and understand.

"Armin, I have to go home now." She stood up quickly and knocked the table, almost causing their cups to tip over. Armin blinked as the blonde girl made an abrupt getaway.

"Slow down" Armin let out a very strained fake laugh as he caught up with her. He wondered how she was able to make it half way down the street so fast.

"Just go home, Armin. It's snowing." Annie stated, not even turning to look up at him as she spoke.

"You know I'm going to walk with you anyway. So there's not really much point in saying that."

"…I guess." Annie muttered.

The small girl mostly kept her head down as they walked back in silence. She had ruined their evening. It was going so well, too. Before she just had to try and remove her hoodie and expose her nasty marks. 

_I could see the horror in his eyes. I know he tried to be nice and cover it up, but he was disgusted. He's extremely observant and clever. There isn't a doubt in my mind that he knows, not that it takes a genius to figure out. I've ruined everything. I'm no good for him._

Armin didn't know what to say on the way back. It was clear to him now why they always walked back to Annie's home in silence. It was because she was always dreading going back to the place. Just before reaching the entrance to the apartments, Annie hesitated in her tracks and came to a stop.

"Armin…" the sound of her quiet voice caused Armin's heart to skip a beat. Annie swallowed a lump in her throat before proceeding to say what was on her mind. "Do I really look like a good person to you?" she knew full well that Armin knew she was a liar. She must have been losing her mind. Why the hell was _she_ the one feeling guilty? _She_ was the one who was being abused for crying out loud.

Annie was the real victim at the end of the day, but she just couldn't help but feel like a terrible person. It was because she was lying and keeping everything from him. In the past two weeks, Armin had really opened his heart to her. He had told her about his mother and father, and how he remembered his mother reading to him as a small child. He told her how it had been his grandfather who had given him his name. He told her that his most treasured memory was when his parents and grandfather took him to the beach for the first time and he got to swim in the ocean. He had confided in her, and she refused to ever tell him anything. It wasn't fair. As nice as he was, Annie knew that everyone had a limit. Armin was only human after all, and eventually he would grow tired of her shit.

The blond boy blinked upon hearing the question. Why was she torturing herself like that? Armin couldn't understand it, he couldn't understand her. Why didn't she tell him anything? Did she not trust him?

Armin walked towards her, quickly closing the space between them. They were almost brushing against each other as he looked down at the girl. He brought his tender hands to gently cup Annie's face and watched as the snowflakes stuck to her long eyelashes.

"Yes, Annie. You are a good person, to me at least." His voice was quiet but firm. He really wanted her to know that he cared for her, now more than ever. For some reason he half expected her to push him away, but she didn't.

Annie blushed under his touch and couldn't speak for the life of her. She stared up at his boyish features, her pale blue eyes wide. His hands were warm. He was always warm. She was the complete opposite.

Armin started to shake and his heart was banging against his ribcage like it had never before. Without much thought, he shut his eyes and drew his face closer to Annie's. His body went into overdrive as his lips met with hers. They were cold and soft at the same time. This was all new to him, and he hoped he was doing it right.

_Please Annie, kiss back._

Annie froze. When her senses returned to her after several seconds, she eagerly returned the kiss. Her arms instinctively wrapped around his waist and her eyes were glued to his face, while his remained closed. Her heart was pounding and she hadn't realised until now how much she had wanted this.

Her lips were even softer than he had imagined, and she tasted divine. He kept his movements slow and gentle because the last thing he wanted to do was alarm her. Neither of them were sure of how long they stood like that, in reality it had probably only been three or four minutes but it felt like much longer.

When finished, Armin looked down at Annie with half-lidded eyes. His cheeks were flushed and he was unsure of what to say to her.

Annie's nose was red and there was a dark blush spread across her face. Her hands shook as she slowly released her arms from his waist. "…I'll see you at school." Annie's voice was quiet. She gave him a nod and took a step back.

Armin blinked and also nodded, "O-okay, good night." she barely heard his voice as she turned around and entered the building.

He would have followed her but he was frozen in the spot. He watched her climb the first set of stairs and when she disappeared from his view he began to shake uncontrollably. It soon came to his attention that the vigorous shaking was not only from the fact that it was snowing, but mainly, because he feared for Annie. She was being abused by her own father and he felt sick to his stomach. As much as he wanted to, common sense told him that marching up to her apartment and confronting her father directly wouldn't be a good idea.

The boy only wished she had said something to him in the first place. It was clear that she didn't fully trust him despite all his efforts to assure her that he was trustworthy and cared about her. They had even just shared their first kiss and, nothing. He couldn't hold it against her though, and he cried because he felt terrible for her, terrible that she had to suffer even after losing her mother to cancer. All Armin wanted was to wrap her in a nice warm blanket and make everything better.

As he walked back home he considered going straight to the police, but realised that it might be a bit rash. The best thing to do was go to the school counsellor. She would for sure know how to help, Armin knew first hand because he had taken a trip to her last year when he was a freshman for personal reasons. Yes, on Monday, first thing, that's exactly what he would do.

_I promise you Annie, I'll help you. I'll get you out of this terrible situation. I'll fix you._


	15. Chapter 15

Armin's bony knuckles sounded against the hard wooden door of the school counsellor's office. His stomach was churning uneasily and his mouth was dry. He had been fretting over Annie for the remainder of the weekend and now was his chance to try and help her. He knew full well that a simple visit to Miss Ral was not going to fix everything straight away. The situation was beyond that, it was complicated and things wouldn't be solved overnight, but today was the beginning.

"Come in." a kind voice called from behind the door. Armin swallowed hard and turned the door handle.

A woman with light red hair and humble brown eyes greeted him with a smile, "Oh Armin, it's nice to see you again. Is everything okay?" she turned her full attention to the teenager and beckoned for him to take a seat. Her smile faded away when she saw how drained and stressed out the blond appeared.

"No…I'm afraid nothing is okay right now." Armin mumbled, taking a seat opposite.

"Well, okay. Care to tell me what the problem is? Is this about your self-esteem?" Armin simply shook his head while trying to formulate how to explain the situation. There was a slight pause and then Miss Ral spoke again, "Have you been…self-harming again?" her voice was full of concern.

"N-no, it's not about me this time. My concerns are for a close friend of mine; well she's more than a friend actually…" Armin blushed lightly but subconsciously began to rub one of his wrists with his fingers. Unpleasant memories suddenly flashed across his mind from his freshman year. Things he had placed to the back of his mind and tried to forget.

"Okay, go ahead, when you're ready." Miss Ral said patiently.

Armin swallowed a lump in his throat, "I have a friend who is being abused by her father. At least, that's what I'm sure of. See, she hasn't told me directly but I've seen many nasty looking bruises on her body on more than one occasion. Not only that, I've heard her father yelling at her. I'm just really scared for her safety…"

"May I know her name? It's that, I won't be able to do anything if I do not know who she is" Miss Ral looked at Armin sternly, but at the same time she came across as being deeply caring.

"Annie Leonhardt, she's in the same grade as me." For some reason he had been hesitant to give her away. Armin felt guilty for going behind Annie's back but he knew it had to be done. He couldn't turn a blind eye and let the abuse continue. At this rate it didn't look like Annie was about to tell him anything. She would be so angry at him, he could just imagine it now. In fact, this could destroy everything between them, but it was for Annie's own good. He knew he had to put her above everything, and that included his own feelings.

"Thank you, Armin. Has she shown any other signs that she might be being abused? I need to know all the details before speaking with her about it".

Armin looked down to his lap and nodded, "Yes. When she first started here, she didn't eat properly. She began buying soup at the canteen after I had started to bring her food, she said she didn't want to rely on anyone. She told me she wasn't on a diet, so I always thought that was strange. I also helped her out with her studies because she was very behind. She's really smart, and after I helped her she managed to get back on track but I know it's because of the abuse that she was behind in the first place. Oh, and her mother passed away recently, I know she's suffering because of it."

"From what you have told me it does seem like there is a big problem here, and it needs to be addressed immediately. I will make sure that I get to speak with her today."

"Thanks. And Miss Ral, is it possible that I remain anonymous? I think she will be mad at me for telling anybody, she's very private."

Miss Ral nodded understandingly, "Yes, of course Armin. You did the right thing by coming here and telling me about your concerns for Annie."

"You will be able to help her, right?" Armin didn't want to question Miss Ral's abilities but he had to be reassured.

"I will do all that I can" she smiled, "now, is there anything else you would like to talk about? How have you been?"

"I've been fine." Armin had been in a much better frame of mind compared to last year. Last year, when he started high school he had no self esteem whatsoever. He got bullied and life was hell for a while, he felt so worthless. He had even begun to self-harm, but after going to see the counsellor everything got better. Not to mention the support he received from his two best friends, Eren and Mikasa. He finally saw that he wasn't worthless, and for the first time in his life he started to value himself.

"I'm glad to hear that, it looks like you've come a long way." Miss Ral beamed.

"I have." Armin returned the smile and stood up, "Well, I had better go to class."

Miss Ral nodded and Armin left the office. He felt relieved that the issue had finally been addressed to someone in authority. This was only the beginning, but he had faith.

* * *

It was during math class when a note was handed to Annie. She had been daydreaming and not even heard someone enter the room. _What have I done wrong this time?_ She wondered. Before reading what was on the note, she could only guess that it was going to tell her to visit the principal's office. _I missed one class this morning and this is what I get._ However, as Annie's pale blue eyes scanned over the words on the piece of paper, she was suddenly met with confusion.

" _Annie Leonhardt, please go to see the school counsellor, Miss Ral, at the beginning of break. Her office is at 212."_

Annie suddenly felt uncomfortable and irritated, _School counsellor? Why the hell would I need to see her?_ She quickly crumpled up the piece of paper and stuffed it into her pocket out of sight.

Armin who sat beside her, watched nervously. It appeared like she was already angry at the idea. He hadn't really been able to speak with her properly today. She had turned up half way through math class, sat beside him, and not really said much except for a small greeting. The teacher in this class did not allow them to speak, either. However, from what Armin could gather about her mood from her body language and so on, he got the impression that she felt slightly shy and maybe awkward about the kiss they had shared. Although, he couldn't be fully sure of that. Annie had always been a bit of a mystery to him, and maybe that was why he was so drawn to her in the first place.

When class was over, Annie stuffed her things into her bag, "I have to go somewhere, I'll see you later."

Armin was surprised to see a faint smile on her face before she walked off. As soon as she disappeared, Armin felt extremely anxious. He hoped that Annie would accept help from Miss Ral, but he couldn't help fear the worst. He knew Annie too well. She was so independent and mistrusting to the point where she couldn't even tell him about her problems.

Annie concluded that this must be some kind of mistake, a mistake that she needed to put right. She knocked once on the door and heard a sweet voice call from inside. The blonde stepped in and did not bother to close the door behind her,

"Hello, you must be Annie?" Please take a sea—"

"This is some kind of mistake, I don't need to be here." Annie interrupted brashly.

Miss Ral shook her head slowly and smiled, "No, it's not a mistake. I just want to have a little chat with you. Please come and sit down."

"How do you even know who I am?" Annie snapped, wondering how this woman had even heard of her, because Annie for sure hadn't seen her before. The blonde closed the door but ignored the instruction to sit down.

"Oh I'm sorry, I haven't fully introduced myself have I? I'm the school counsellor, Petra Ral. You can call me Miss Ral or Petra, whatever makes you feel comfortable. Now, I understand that you may be going through a hard time right now and I'm here to help."

"That didn't answer my question." the blonde stated bluntly and folded her arms across her chest. Miss Ral swallowed hard, knowing this was going to be difficult.

"As the school counsellor, my job is to help students. I'm notified when a pupil has shown signs of having problems. I'm not going to force you to talk, and I'm not being nosy either. All I want to do is help. I'd like to let you know that everything you tell me in here will be completely confidential."

"What do you know about me?" Annie asked while scowling at the redhead. She didn't feel comfortable when someone had the upper-hand on her, and this woman clearly knew something.

"L-look, I'm getting the feeling that you think I'm out to get you, and I can assure you I'm not. I just want to help—"

"I don't need your help. I think I have an idea of what is going on here, someone came and told you something about me, right?" Annie's blue eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Yes. Someone extremely kind and caring came to tell me that they are very concerned about you. You don't need to suffer alone in silence anymore, Annie."

"Who was it?" Annie could feel herself becoming angrier by the second.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that information." Miss Ral stated firmly, no longer smiling.

"Let me guess," Annie paused and felt like kicking the woman in the face for not telling her the information she felt like she had a right to know. The violent thoughts scared her but she shook them off and continued, "It was Armin Arlert." The blonde felt a sickening feeling at the pit of her stomach, she felt so betrayed. Armin had gone behind her back and told the school counsellor what he had worked out. She knew it was Armin, no one else would have known. She felt so upset and furious at the same. How could Armin be so sneaky to tell a complete stranger something so personal about her!? Why didn't he at least confront her about it first? The look on Miss Ral's face confirmed it. He had told. Annie was fuming and dashed out of the office.

"Wait, Annie…!" Miss Ral called out to her but it was too late, Annie was already gone.

The blonde felt overwhelmed by a mixture of emotions, anger first and foremost but she also felt like crying her eyes out. Everything was exposed now, it was all over. She completely ignored orders barked at her from teachers to stop running through the hallway. Eventually she got outside and her eyes scanned her surroundings, she was so worked up that she didn't even feel the cold for once. When she saw Armin by the benches laughing with not just Eren and Mikasa, but Sasha, Connie, Christa and Ymir she saw red. The blonde rushed over to him, and by the time he had noticed her approaching, it was too late. Armin's eyes widened,

"A-Annie?"

Annie's fist raised and smashed into Armin's shoulder before he could even blink. A yelp escaped his mouth as he fell slightly backwards at the harsh impact of Annie's punch, but managed to keep his balance. He was just thankful that he was wearing a thick coat to soften the blow, but it didn't really do that much to ease the pain that shot through his shoulder and down his arm. Annie could feel everyone's eyes on her but she had gone past the point of caring.

"Why did you go behind my back and tell!?" she screamed it, there was silence all around her as everyone's eyes were drawn towards her and Armin, completely and utterly dumbfounded. Most of them had barely even heard Annie speak before. The girl stared into Armin's eyes and she could see that she had really hurt him. Guilt began to creep up on her but she was still so angry.

"I..." Armin looked like a kicked puppy, and before he could try and explain, Eren intervened.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" he grabbed Annie's arm and roughly turned her to face him. As the blonde looked up at Eren, she looked absolutely furious.

"Get your hands off of me." Annie demanded and kicked Eren in the shin.

The boy immediately released her arm and let out a gasp in pain, "Crazy bitch!"

Armin looked from Eren to Annie in desperation, unable to do anything. He was frozen in the spot and completely speechless. It was all happening so fast. He then noticed that Annie had balled her fist and was about to punch Eren, this time Armin had seen it coming and quickly tried to stop her.

"N-No Annie!" it was clear that Armin's pleas were going to do little to stop the raging blonde.

However, just in time, Mikasa came between them. She grabbed hold of Annie's wrist and backed her up against a wall. The taller girl was extremely strong. It may as well have been her father who had pinned her.

"Don't even think about laying another finger on Eren, do you understand me? If you dare do it again, I'll make you regret the day you were born." Mikasa hissed and her black eyes shone with pure anger.

"Let go of me." Annie gritted her teeth but felt tears slide down her cheeks before she was able to stop them. She cursed at herself for showing weakness at a time like this. Mikasa eyed her cautiously, "I SAID LET GO!" the blonde shouted and was tempted to start thrashing. This girl wasn't her father, she could fight back all she wanted and probably could inflict some damage.

"Mikasa please let her go!" Armin came to Mikasa's side and gave her a stern look. This was all his fault. He knew it, and would take the blame. Mikasa looked at Armin and then looked back at the smaller blonde. She released Annie but gave her a warning look as she did so.

Annie made no hesitation to run from scene, the sheer speed of her action meant that nobody was able to chase after her and actually catch up with her.

_What have I done?_ Tears were streaming down her face and she could barely see where she was going _. I punched him…I'm as bad as my father. I'm disgusting._ Annie's thoughts were going down the drain and fast. Suddenly she bashed into something hard, it completely snapped her away from her negative train of thought. Hands rushed out to stop her from falling to the ground and the blonde looked up. She quickly wiped the tears from her face, and scowled at whoever it was who was in her way.

"Are you okay?" a concerned voice asked. It was that of Reiner's, the guy who usually harassed her in the hallways. She noticed Reiner's tall friend was looking down at her with a worried expression on his face, too.

"Get out of my way." Annie snapped.

"I know we've not always seen eye-to-eye, but you look really upset. Are you okay? What happened?

"Does it look like I'm okay? Now move the fuck out of my way, and maybe then I'll actually be alright."

"R-Reiner…just do as she wants" Bertholdt piped up.

"Fine. Okay." Reiner stepped back with his hands raised and Annie made her way out of the school premises. She would just go home, she didn't care anymore. If the school wanted to contact her father, so be it.

_I can't believe what I did. I hit him. I kicked his best friend. I caused a scene in front of a shit load of people. But he went behind my back…_

The anger had worn off by this point and Annie was left with all the other negative feelings. Her thoughts were all over the place and she felt despair consume her as she walked back home. The blonde was shaking and she tried hard to stop thinking about it, but she couldn't.

_I should_ _stop being so fucking stupid, he didn't do it out of spite. He only had my best interests at heart; I know that because it was written all over his face. Why did I have to act like a bitch? Why do I always act like a bitch? Was I born like this…? Is it just who I am? I'm really no better than Dad. How does Armin even like me? Or, how did he like me? He most likely doesn't anymore. In fact, he probably hates me…it's a shame because that means I'll never get to kiss him again, or feel the warmth of his hugs. But I only have myself to blame. I've always turned down the help that's been there for me the whole time. How fucking stupid, because I really need it! I admit it! I'm not that strong, I'm a weak. I can't go on like this anymore, but it's too late now._

"I don't know what to do…" Annie mumbled to herself.

* * *

The bell rang signalling the end of break, but Eren wanted answers. "What the hell was that, Armin? She's a fucking psycho!" the brunet's shin still hurt from where Annie had kicked him, and it was likely to bruise.

Armin didn't answer.

"Armin! Answer me, why did she go all psycho just now?"

"Eren…you fail to understand," Armin stopped mid in his tracks, not even caring that he'd be late to his next class.

"What? Fail to understand that she's a psycho bitch who needs to be locked up!? I could report her for assault."

"She's being abused by her father! Don't you see? No, of course you wouldn't. I'm the only one to ever try and make her feel welcome in this school, the rest of you were quick to judge her and label her as a bad person." Armin couldn't control the tears that had started to fall from his eyes.

"W-what?" Eren's stomach dropped. He suddenly felt terrible and awkward.

"She has bruises all over her body. And remember when she never brought lunch with her? It's because her father probably never gave her the money for it. She told me her mother died of cancer…and now she's had to endure abuse from her father for god only knows how long!" Armin sniffed and brought a hand to wipe away the tears from his eyes. "I…I love her, and I've not been able to do anything for her!" he sniffed again and tried his best to stop crying.

By this point Eren's eyes were wide; he didn't even know what to say. "Armin I had no idea…I'm sorry. If…If I had known, I would have tried to be nicer to her, well at least less of a jerk. But, this still doesn't explain why she punched you at break…"

"I went to the school counsellor today. Obviously she knew it was me who told. She's never wanted to tell anybody what's going on. I don't know why…"

"Wait…you love her?" Eren shook his head after just catching on to what Armin had said back there.

Realising his own words, the blond's face suddenly flushed red, "Y-yeah, I do… She's really not what you see at first glance, she's so much deeper. She's one of the most beautiful people both inside and out that I've ever met." There was silence between them for several moments, Eren didn't know what to say and Armin spoke again, "…Eren please don't tell anyone about Annie. Even if people ask you about what happened at break, please don't."

"I wouldn't." Eren stated firmly.

"I bet she feels terrible right now." Armin looked down to his feet.

"Well now that the school counsellor knows what's going on, we can all help her. She'll be okay for sure."

"Nothing is ever that simple, but I really hope so."


	16. Chapter 16

It was bitterly cold outside, the streets were covered with ice and snow but Annie was unable to feel it. She was numb. The blonde just couldn't stop thinking about what she had done, and also the mess she was in. Being around Armin had made her truly happy at times and given her relief, but she was alone again now. Not to mention she would no longer have a job, because Armin probably wouldn't want her to work at his grandfather's shop anymore. Annie stepped out onto the road ready to cross the street and that's when she heard the horns of a car sounding loudly in her ears. Her eyes widened and she stepped back quickly, just missing it.

"Watch where you're going!" she heard the driver yell and watched as the car disappeared down the road. Annie's heart was hammering against her chest; the incident had completely snapped her away from her chain of thought. She was shook up. _I could have been killed just now…would that have been a bad thing?_ Annie's thoughts were scaring her, and left her feeling very uncomfortable. After all that had happened in the past, she had not once thought of ending her life and the fact that it was suddenly crossing her mind really proved how bad things were. _Cut that out right now. I've already come this far, if I was to just die at this moment, everything I've been through would be for nothing._

When the blonde reached for the key in her bag, she noticed that her hands were shaking vigorously. The numbness had disappeared the moment she was almost hit by the car, and adrenaline was still rushing through her veins even a good ten minutes after the encounter. When Annie got inside, she noticed that her father wasn't in. A wave of relief washed over the blonde and she went straight to her room. She didn't care where her father was, or what he was doing, she was just thankful that he wasn't here to witness what was going to happen next. After all that had occurred, Annie knew she had reached her limit with what she could deal with.

Annie violently chucked her school bag across the bedroom causing all of her books to spill out all over the place. She let out a scream in frustration and started to kick the chest of drawers. The girl then brought her arm to smash all of the contents that was on top of the drawers to the ground, and pulled the blankets from her bed. She threw them to the opposite side of the room and closed her eyes. Annie breathed in and out heavily for several seconds and when her eyes opened again, she went towards the window and ripped the curtains from the railing. Annie flung them along with the blankets, she stopped again and looked at the state of her room. Annie sighed and collapsed onto her bed; she stuffed her head into her pillow and screamed again. This time tears spilled from her eyes and she began to cry like she never had before. Annie curled up into a ball and continued to sob her heart out, her fingers instinctively made their way into the top of her hoodie and she pulled out the necklace from around her neck. The blonde clutched the silver ring that was attached to it in her hand. The ring was the last thing she had of her mother's. Everything else had been thrown out by her father after her death, there were a few photos Annie managed to salvage but a part from that, there was nothing.

Annie continued to cry and exhausted by her emotions, she drifted off into a deep sleep.

* * *

As soon as the last bell rang, Armin practically ran out of school. Eren offered to go to Annie's house with him, but Armin said it was probably best that he go alone. After all, Annie probably wouldn't want to talk in front of Eren and after today's incident she probably didn't want to see him either.

 _Heck_ , Armin thought, _she probably doesn't even want to see me. She punched me…obviously she's angry and hurt. But I know I did the right thing. Miss Ral has already reported everything to social services. They will get to the bottom of it, and whether or not Annie wants to be my friend or girlfriend after it all, at least she will be safe from harm. That's all that really matters. Then again, if she really does hate me now, I'm not going to lie to myself and pretend I'm okay with that. I'd be heartbroken but…I can live knowing that she's okay._

Armin found himself standing opposite the familiar block of apartments. He had to go and see Annie, even if she didn't particularly want to see him. The blond decided to take the elevator and his stomach twisted and churned as it rattled it's way up to the fourth floor. After stepping out, Armin had wished he had just taken the stairs because the way the elevator creaked and shook unsettled him even more. The boy just felt so nervous, he wasn't even exactly sure why. He knew what to expect: Annie would be angry with him, she'd most likely hurl some insults towards him and either slam the door in his face or she might, just _maybe_ , accept his apology after he explains himself. He figured he should apologise for not talking to Annie about it before hand, but, he just hoped she would understand and accept why he had to do what he did. The uneasy feeling escalated as he got closer and closer to Annie's front door, he removed his winter gloves and when he finally went to knock, he noticed that the palms of his hands were drenched in sweat and they shook. _Calm down_ , Armin swallowed. He started to think of all the other scenarios that could have taken place earlier and what could end up happening now. What if Annie had harmed herself in some way? What if her father had beaten her senseless when she had returned from school? What if she wasn't even here and had run away? _Stop it. She's fine, she's safe inside there. She's just going to be really mad, that's all._ Armin finally mustered the courage to place his hand against the door and knocked twice. There was no answer, and his heart began to hammer against his chest. He knocked again, and again, and nothing. He pressed his ear up against the door after some time to see if he could hear if anyone was inside but there was nothing but silence. _Oh god._

"ANNIE!" Armin shouted and banged his fist against the door. He was not going to give up that easily. "Annie please, it's Armin. Please talk to me, Annie!" The blond repeated the action several times while calling her name, until someone's voice addressing him snapped him away from doing so. Armin's heart skipped a beat and he turned to the source of the voice.

"Who the hell are you?" a tallish man spoke gruffly. He had bags in his hands and Armin could see through the semi-transparent plastic that they contained several bottles of some kind of alcohol. The blond boy gulped as he quickly realised who this man was. He was Annie's father, and he was clearly put out upon seeing Armin banging on his front door. "Looking for Annie? Have you come to steal my daughter away from me?" he sneered. The man's harsh blue eyes narrowed at the younger boy and Armin could not help but feel down right intimidated. Annie's father looked down on him as if he were a mere insect who could be stomped on with one foot.

"Y-yes." was all Armin's reply. He had been pretty much rendered speechless, a mixture of emotions flooding him. He was frightened, but he was also disgusted and angry. This man had been hurting Annie, he had inflicted those bruises on her small body. Wasn't he supposed to care for her and love her? He was her father after all. Armin frowned deeply and took a step back from the door to allow the man access, he couldn't help scowl a little at him.

"Hey brat, want to wipe that look from your face? Or do you want me to have to do it for you?" the tone in his voice turned low and threatening. Armin felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. What if he was going to attack him?

"No, I'm sorry for looking at you that way. I didn't mean to." he felt pathetic for apologising, but it was definitely the intelligent choice.

"So what business do you have with my daughter? You want to get into bed with her?" his eyes were like two slits.

Was he drunk? Armin was certain he could smell the alcohol permitting off of the man. That would make sense, if he was an alcoholic then that would explain why he was so violent with Annie, and at this rate it looked like he was about to turn violent against him, too. The blond boy shook his head fiercely in response to Annie's father's absurd question, and began to panic even more. If the man believed that was his intention, it wasn't going to end well for Armin. Maybe he was strangely protective over Annie? Even despite beating her. _How hypocritical._

"I don't ever want to see your face around here again. Do you hear me, kid? You're not wanted. Now scram." This was the man's final words as he inserted the key into the lock and opened the door to his apartment. The door slammed shut rather harshly, and Armin let out a breath of relief. He wondered if Annie was in or not, he was beyond worried about her now. It was a shame he didn't have her cell phone number, then again he wasn't sure she even owned a cell phone.

Armin stood outside the door for around five minutes, just waiting, listening, and wondering if anything was happening on the other side. All he could hope for was that social services would be on their way to sort this problem out. Armin had now come face to face with villain, and it made him realise how bad the situation really was. It was even worse than he had imagined. Especially since alcohol was involved. After some time, Armin decided to walk back home. It took him forever because he was walking at such a slow pace, he was hoping he would maybe bump into the blonde girl on the way back but he had no such luck. When he finally arrived home, his grandfather asked what was wrong. How could Armin begin to explain it to the old man? In the end, he decided to just keep it brief and avoid details. He didn't want to lumber his grandfather with the problem. Most likely he would begin to worry about Annie too, and that wasn't something Armin wanted his grandfather to have to deal with. Later in the evening, Eren called Armin to see if everything was okay. Armin was glad that his best friend had decided to be supportive. Eren was a good guy, Armin always knew that. His heart had been in the right place the whole time; he had only been looking out for him. He knew he could rely on Eren to be there for him and Annie now.

* * *

Annie was awoken abruptly by her father. The room was almost pitch black, the only source of light was from the street lights that shone through the window that was now bare without curtains. Annie was groggy, she had no idea what was going on. How long had she even been asleep?

"Come on Annie wake up!" her father sounded strange. He sounded desperate, as if he was in a rush. Was the house on fire? What had he done this time? Annie's mind was all over the place and she rubbed her eyes. "Annie!" her father raised his voice and grabbed hold of her arm, pulling her from the bed. He proceeded to drag her out of her room, almost tripping over something on the floor from her fit earlier on. When they got out into the hallway, Annie was temporarily blinded by the light. She really had no clue what was going on. Why was her father pulling her to the living room? Was he going to hit her? She hadn't even done anything…except trash her bedroom.

Annie swallowed hard and realised she must have been asleep for hours and hours. She suddenly remembered the dream that she had while asleep, and it made her feel extremely uncomfortable. It must have been the strangest dream she had ever had in her life. She could hear Armin's voice calling her in the dream, he was pleading with her. _"Annie please, it's Armin. Please talk to me, Annie!"._ It sounded so vivid and real, it was almost as if he was really there. That wasn't the weirdest part of the dream however, because what disturbed her the most was the fact that she was completely naked; it was by no means a sexual dream though, and she had tried desperately to cover herself because she was completely exposed in front of Armin. Her hair was loose and it hung over her eyes obscuring her vision and hiding most of her face. She had refused to look up at Armin so she had no idea what his facial expression was and Annie knew he stood quite some distance from her by the way his voice had echoed. He continued to beg her while she was standing by a cliff, and she knew what that implied. She was standing right by the edge and she was going to fall. Armin was trying to save her, but in the end everything seemed to fade away. Armin disappeared and so did the scenery around her. She was no expert on dream analysis, but she knew exactly what this dream meant. It represented how Armin had seen right through her all along. He had seen through her façade and her lies, and all he had wanted to do was save her, but she hadn't let him.

"Annie," her father brought both hands to her shoulders and was looking straight at her. She had been thinking so deeply about the dream and had spaced out because of it, but she was brought back to reality now. "Annie…"

Why was her father saying her name over and over? What did he want? Annie looked to the empty bottles of vodka on the coffee table and then back to her father. His eyes were blood shot and he was beyond out of it. She wasn't even sure if he had ever drunk so much. His grip tightened on her shoulders and she could have sworn she saw tears in his eyes. _Looks like he's upset that his alcohol ran out already…_

"Annie I'm sorry." Annie's eyes widened suddenly, what had her father just said? His grasp tightened even more so on her shoulders and it started to hurt. She squirmed uncomfortably underneath him and opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. "Look…you want to see mom, right?" his voice sounded so odd. Annie's face twisted in confusion.

"…What?"

"I know you miss her. I miss her too. It will be the same again, all three of us." Her father stumbled a little and wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. The smell of alcohol coming off of him was strong enough to make Annie feel nauseous and her father's behaviour was terrifying her. She found herself unable to breathe properly. He spoke of the impossible, how would the three of them ever be together again? Her mom was dead and even if by some miracle which gave her mother a second chance to live, all the wrongs and unforgivable things her father had done to her in the past months would never be forgotten. It would never be the same. They would never be a happy family like they was once. Annie's face scrunched up in pain and confusion, why was she even contemplating this? "I can't lose you Annie." her father mumbled, he sounded almost incoherent, but he had managed to put together that sentence. Not that it made much sense.

Annie could not talk. She could not breathe. She couldn't even think. For months, almost a year, her father had treated her like the dirt on the bottom of his shoe. Despite being his only daughter, the only family he had left, he had acted as if she was the bane of his existence. The physical and verbal abuse she had endured was something she wouldn't even wish upon her enemies. Suddenly now, out of nowhere he was apologising to her and saying he didn't want to lose her? Maybe this time he really had had too much to drink. Whatever the reason for his sudden apology, it was too late. He had already lost her. He lost her the day he had turned his back on her mother and her.

"Forgive me, okay?" his voice cracked and Annie's eyes quickly met two containers full of pills on the table along with the empty vodka bottles. At that very moment, she knew what was going on. Before she was able to act, her father had pulled himself away from the embrace and had his large hands tightly around her neck, choking her.


	17. Chapter 17

There was no time to panic, only time to act as her father's hands tightened around her neck, suffocating her. Annie reached to his hands and tried to pry them off, but it was to no avail. Tears brimmed in her eyes, he was stronger than she was, and there was nothing she could do. He was going to kill her right now, and then commit suicide. Annie choked and coughed as she felt the pressure building up in her head due to the lack of oxygen. The pain was excruciating and it felt like her head was literally going to explode. Annie could feel herself becoming weaker by the second, and her vision became unfocused and blurry. She could just about see the tears streaming down her father's face, and by this point her own face was turning blue. The life was slowly draining out of her and she was absolutely terror-stricken. She didn't want to die, not like this. This was the worst way possible. He was doing this because of his own weakness, his inability to accept her mother's death and because he was unable to live without the woman. It had been the man's downfall and now he wanted to take her down with him. Annie had no sympathy for him and she did not want to die at his hands. Blackness started to cloud her vision and she was no longer able to see anything, it was terrifying.

Annie closed her eyes, no longer able to see anything anyway. As she did so, someone came to mind. It was Armin, the boy who had been by her side for the past few months. He was the person who had made her laugh and smile even though she had felt dead inside, the one who had the ability to make her feel again, the one who had showered her in nothing but kindness. He was the one who she had shared her first kiss, he was her first love and he had wanted to save her from this mess. If only she had let him, she wouldn't have been in this situation now. As she was drifting into an unconscious state she continued to think about Armin.

 _How will he react to my death?_ _Even if he hates me right now, it would break his heart if I was to die, because that's just what kind of person he is. I don't want his heart to frost over. I don't want someone like him, who's so warm and full of life, to turn cold, like me. I want to be able to see him again, at all costs, no I **need** to be able to see him. To thank him for all that he's done for me. _

Annie was not sure where the strength came from, but she could only thank Armin as she gathered enough of it to raise her leg and knee her father right in the groin. He let out an agonising sound and she felt his hands loosen from around her neck. She was finally able to breathe, if only just a little bit, for the first time in what felt like forever. She gasped the air around her and coughed so hard that she felt a burning sensation in her lungs. The blonde wasted no time in taking the chance to rip away her father's hands from her neck. She screamed insanely and kicked her father again with immense strength, this time right in the stomach. The man gasped loudly in pain, and already weakened by the attack to his groin, he stumbled backwards. As the oxygen was once again allowed to circulate Annie's brain, her vision fully returned and she let out another scream as a forceful kick met her father's chest. It winded him and he fell over, landing on his back; his arm knocked the table on the way down and one of the containers of pills fell to the ground and spilled across the floor. Annie was just glad he was drunk and therefore standing was already a difficult task, she wasn't sure if she would have been able to knock him to the ground like that if he was sober. Then again, she felt stronger than she had ever before.

The adrenaline pulsating throughout every fibre of her body was nothing like she had experienced and she went absolutely berserk. Tears streamed down her face and she found herself laughing rather manically as she attacked her father who had not managed to bring himself to his feet. All those moves he had taught her as a child were now being used against him, and it felt so good. She kicked him in the face and he shouted incoherently at her, trying to get to stop. For the briefest of moments, Annie panicked as his hands wrapped around her ankle, but she acted fast and got out of his grasp. His hands fell to the ground as Annie kicked again and she heard a harsh snap at the sound of her father's nose being broken. After being beaten by him for months on end, to finally be able to have the upper hand was causing her to shake with a mixture of excitement and pure rage. She saw the blood oozing from his nose and mouth, and she knew that she had weakened him enough so that if she made a run for it now she would escape and be fine. Annie resisted the urge to continue to beat him senseless and instead ran out of the door. A gurgling sound was heard as the man's mouth filled with his own blood and he coughed it up. The last thing Annie heard was his desperate voice calling out her name.

Annie ran down the corridor and the flights of stairs at such a speed that she hadn't even had the time to think. She did not turn back to see if her father was following her, and she doubted that he was able to. She jumped half way down the last set of stairs, and when she landed on the ground her ankle twisted painfully. The blonde let out a shriek of pain and immediately clutched it, "Fuck!" she cried. Annie knew she had to get out of there, and fast. She limped out of the building and was greeted by an unpleasant gust of freezing wind. The ground was covered in ice and Annie felt a wave of pure despair flood over her. She didn't think she had anywhere to go. _What am I going to do?_ It was obvious where she had to go, though. She had to go and see Armin. She would have to explain everything to him. She would tell him anything he wanted to know, anything about her, or her family. Annie sobbed as she tried to run to Armin's house. The pain in her ankle was killing her and it was almost unbearable, she had twisted it badly and the ice and snow on the ground wasn't helping. As the adrenaline began to wear off, she could no longer run and Annie started to feel the full impact of her father's attack on her body. Her throat felt swollen and every time she breathed it pained her. Her head was banging, it was as if someone had smashed her repeatedly against a brick wall. Not only that, she was freezing. The blonde knew that she had to get to Armin's house soon otherwise she would end up collapsing from hypothermia. Annie wrapped her arms around herself in a tight hug and continued to limp down the street.

 _How is he going to react…? Armin, please don't hate me, please_. All Annie could do was pray that he wasn't mad at her and would let her inside. She had literally no one else in the world that she could turn to.

Annie did not even want to contemplate what would happen if he turned his back on her now. She was too cold to even think straight by the time she got to Armin's door, her body felt numb, and her fingers were blue. She was shaking violently and Annie knew she was on the brink of collapse. After several moments, Annie brought her frozen-stiff hand to the door and knocked once. Her tired heart pounded against her chest as she anticipated seeing Armin. She waited, and it seemed like a lifetime until the door finally opened.

* * *

Armin stood in front of her and she worried that she was hallucinating for the second. That was until he spoke.

"Annie...? Oh god…" Armin made no hesitation to wrap his arms around her in a tight embrace. She returned it and began to sob violently against his shoulder. "Annie…" he whispered her name with a sense of relief in his tone. Armin could feel her shaking and her body felt like a block of ice against his, "Oh Annie, you're freezing…are you okay? W-what happened?"

Annie could not talk, she opened her mouth but it was almost like she was suffering from some kind of panic attack. The words were literally caught in her throat.

"Ssh, ssh. It's okay." Armin soothed and put a hand to the back of her head, gently pushing her face into his warm chest. "Let's get inside."

"A-Armin…" Annie finally managed to stutter out as she was brought into the hallway. Her breathing was extremely erratic and she was sure she was going to pass out.

"Annie, calm down. Breathe, try to breathe slowly. I'm here for you." Armin's eyes were wide and his hands did not leave the small girl as she continued to shake under his touch. Now that she was in the light, he could see bruises in the shape of hands on her neck and he felt sick to his stomach. Had he tried to strangle her to death? Annie still couldn't get any words out and she was taking long deep breaths to try and calm down.

It was late by now, already way past eight o'clock at night. Armin's grandfather suddenly made an appearance at the top of the stairs, wondering what all the noise was and who was visiting at this hour. He made his way down as quickly as he could, "What in blue blazes is going on?" he looked at Annie's state and his mouth formed into a creased line, obviously highly concerned for the girl.

Annie for the life of her could not regulate her breathing. She clung to Armin's shirt and tried to calm down but it didn't seem possible. Her throat and lungs felt like they were on fire. Not to mention how her head felt like it was going to explode for the second time that day.

"Armin take her to the living room and sit her down, I'll go and get some water." Armin nodded while his grandfather disappeared into the kitchen.

Annie tried to do what Armin's grandfather had asked, and that's when Armin noticed she was limping. He took her arm and put it over his shoulders so that she could use him as support. He would have carried her if he could have.

Once they sat down Armin looked at her face, he wiped the tears away with a gentle hand and rubbed her back with the other. "You're safe here, I promise. I love you." Armin soothed her, and when he noticed what he had said his face burned bright red.

Annie heard what he said and she almost couldn't believe it. She wanted to be able to tell him she loved him too, but she couldn't speak. At the very least, his words did help to ease her mind and her breathing did improve just a little. A second later his grandfather was back in the room with a glass of water.

"Here, drink this dear." Annie took the glass from the old man's hand, her hand was shaking vigorously and some of the water spilt over the edge of the glass before she was able to take a sip. Armin continued to rub her back and his spare hand met with Annie's that rested in her lap. Armin's grandfather quickly noticed the marks on her neck and gave Armin a very concerned look, Armin met his grandpa's eyes and his eyebrows scrunched together in response. His grandfather decided against asking Annie anything yet, as he assumed bringing it up would set her off again. She was only now just starting to show signs of calming down.

"Did you walk all the way here? It's freezing out there!" his grandfather suddenly realised, Annie simply nodded in between taking sips of water, "I'll go and get a blanket."

Moments later Armin's grandfather returned with a huge blanket, he handed it to Armin who wrapped it around Annie. When Annie finished the water, Armin's grandfather took the glass and decided to give the two a bit of space, sensing that she probably wanted to talk with Armin in private. The old man announced that he would be in the kitchen if they needed him and Armin gave him a nod. The blond boy stared at Annie whose eyes never left a certain spot on the floor, it seemed like she was in a daze. At least her breathing was back to normal, except for the fact that she was now hiccuping as a result of her sobbing earlier.

"A-Annie…" Armin continued to rub her back, "Did he…?" the boy was unable to even finish his sentence.

Annie didn't turn to look at him as she finally began to speak, "Armin…I…I want you to know that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for never telling you anything about myself, but I was scared…" she paused briefly, trying to refrain from having another panic attack as she explained herself. "I was s-scared because I thought you might turn your back on me if you knew. Please don't get the wrong idea, it's just my dad turned his back on my mom and me and after that, I've not been able to trust anyone. I know it was wrong of me to judge you by his standards and I'm a terrible person but I really can't help it—"

Annie was talking far too rapidly for Armin to take everything in, "Annie, it's okay. You don't have to feel bad about a single thing" he interrupted to reassure her.

Annie took in a deep breath and exhaled, her voice turned into a quiet whisper, "He… he's been beating me for months. After my mother was diagnosed he became depressed and turned into an alcoholic. Then after she died, he started to beat me...and tonight he tried to...kill me."

Armin swallowed a lump in his throat. He was completely overwhelmed; the boy frowned deeply and found it difficult to take it all in. He remained silent and felt his mouth turn dry and stomach churn as Annie continued to talk.

"I l-left school early…after what happened today at break…" Annie felt a pang of guilt after recalling what she did to Armin at break earlier that day, "…When I got back home I fell asleep for hours. My dad woke me up and it was already dark by then…he was acting s-strange. He was apologising to me…he said he didn't want to lose me or something." Annie breathed in and then exhaled slowly again; "…I didn't understand what was going on until I noticed a bottle of pills on the table. He then started to strangle me, at first I thought I was really going to die…But I somehow managed to fight back and escaped…" Annie finished the sentence at an almost inaudible volume.

"I think it's my fault." Armin suddenly felt racked with guilt. It was because of his encounter with her father earlier on that day.

"What are you talking about?" Annie looked to him suddenly, completely confused.

"I went to your house to see you after school but nobody answered. I guess it was because you was asleep, anyway, I happened to bump into your dad and I think he got the impression that I wanted to steal you away from him. I must have triggered him…I'm so sorry Annie, it really is my fault, I provoked him…and look at those bruises on your neck!" Armin felt himself tearing up but he held them back for Annie's sake.

"Don't be stupid Armin…! None of it is your fault, he's insane…he was drunk out of his mind…!" the last thing Annie wanted was for Armin to feel guilty over this. It had nothing to do with him.

"You could have been killed…" Armin whispered it as the realisation finally sunk in. The thought that Annie could be dead right now terrified him. She was always so fierce and strong, in contrast, her laughter was so light and cute. She was strong willed but at the same time somewhat shy and refrained from showing too much emotion but that rare smile of hers was something he'd give his right arm to see more of. The fact that Armin might never have been able to see Annie again made him realise how much he really loved every trait of hers, and how much he appreciated the fact that she was sitting beside him right now.

"I fought back, I went crazy Armin…" Annie began to shake again and Armin quickly wrapped his arms around her. He breathed in her scent and treasured it, beyond grateful that she was alive and breathing.

"You're safe with me." he whispered.

"I smashed his face in…I don't even care if he dies…" Annie spoke quietly after a minute or so. Armin pulled back from the embrace to look at her face, she was deathly pale.

"We have to phone the police…" he said after a few moments. Armin knew that his response was probably not the most sensitive, but he was always one to think rationally, and if her father was badly injured, the best thing to do was to call the police. Annie couldn't go back there, so they had no choice.

Annie's eyes widened, she hadn't even thought to contact them. Armin quickly stood up and went to the phone. The blonde watched his movements and her heart started to pulsate, Annie's breathing became heavy again and her vision began to blur, she felt like she was going to pass out, "Armin…wait…" she begged and of course he came back and sat down beside her again. He had the phone in one hand while the other wrapped around Annie's and their fingers entwined.

"Annie, I'm not abandoning you. I just wanted to get the phone so we can contact the police. You can't go back to your house and your father needs to be attended to, whether or not you want him to live or die. Personally, I would love him to rot in hell for what he's done to you, but it's best we handle it this way." the blond gave her hand a squeeze, and Annie's breathing instantly calmed down again. Armin's calm manner completely juxtaposed how he was feeling on the inside but he knew he could not show any signs of being weak right now. His eyes were filled with deep concern for Annie but there was also a look of protectiveness and determination present, and she knew that he was not going to leave her.

"You're not going to be in any trouble." Armin said after several moments of silence, "I'm going to call the police now. Then after, you can stay here with me for as long as you want. Of course I'm going to have to tell my grandpa everything, too. I hope you understand." Annie did not speak but nodded, and Armin made the call.

The events that occurred next seemed to pass by while Annie felt like she was in some kind of daze. The police had arrived and questioned her, and she was then informed that her father had overdosed and was currently in hospital being treated. He had followed through with his plan, without her, and failed. Annie found it very unfortunate that he hadn't succeeded with his suicide attempt. She didn't think she was being cruel, because after what that man had put her through, she really believed he deserved to be dead. Annie's only concern was what would happen to him after he recovered. The police, together with social services knew everything and told her that he would go to a rehabilitation centre. Annie made it clear that she never wanted to see the man again in her life. All the while, Armin was there by her side supporting her, and she was beyond grateful.

Social services inspected her bruises and ankle and told her that she should go to the hospital but she refused, she had just wanted all of this to be over and for them to leave. However, she did want to know what was going to happen to her, considering her father wasn't going to be coming out of rehab for a very long time, and even when he did get out, he most likely faced a jail sentence. Annie knew it was going to be complicated, just like everything was in her life. Thankfully, they agreed to allow her to stay with Armin for the night and until further arrangements could be made. Annie wasn't sure of the time when they finally left and she felt guilty for Armin and his grandfather who had to put up with the police and social services at their home. Both of them didn't seem to mind though, their only concern and priority being Annie's well-being.

* * *

Annie had not felt so calm and relieved in years, the feeling was practically alien to her; to finally be able to just enjoy the present moment without worrying about anything was wonderful, even despite feeling completely exhausted. It was all over now, though. She would never have to endure her father again, she could live her life.

Armin's grandfather had gone to sleep and the two were in Armin's room. Annie found herself leaning against Armin's chest as he sat up against the headboard of his bed. The blonde sat in between his legs as he played with her hair. This was undoubtedly the closest she had ever been to the boy. Annie could hear and feel his heart pounding under his shirt and she couldn't lie and say hers wasn't doing the same.

"Your heart…" Annie whispered quietly.

"I can't control it when you're so close to me…It's not annoying you, is it?"

"Of course not, I love the sound of your heart beating. It means you're alive after all." her words came out bluntly but Armin couldn't help it as his heart raced even faster after hearing them.

"I'm glad…" he said as he continued to play with her golden hair, "How are you feeling? Do you want another pain-killer?" Armin asked, he was still really concerned about Annie, the bruises on her neck looked bad and he had encouraged her to go to the hospital but she was stubborn and refused.

"No, I'm fine." Annie knew that it was extremely late, and Armin really should have been in bed asleep but there was still so much more to be said. She wouldn't go to the spare room just yet, not before she had said what she wanted to.

"Armin…thank you" Annie looked up to made eye-contact, "Thank you for everything…and I'm sorry…."

"You needn't be sorry." Armin smiled sadly, wondering why Annie still felt the need to apologise to him after everything that had happened to her today.

The blonde girl did not say anything and instead reached into her hoodie to pull out the necklace from around her neck, she held the ring in between her fingers, "This belongs to my mom" her voice was quiet, "Can you help me remove this, Armin?"

At first Armin was confused, but he did as she asked. He very carefully unhooked the necklace from Annie's neck and she put the ring around her finger. The blonde girl smiled softly as she looked down at it, "Finally…I can wear this the way it's supposed to be worn."

Armin looked down at the silver ring, still not fully understanding but glad that Annie seemed happy.

"She gave me this before she died. She always had it on and I'm not sure where she had acquired it, all I know is that it wasn't my father who bought it for her. I know it's only a simple ring, but it's the only thing I have of hers. My dad decided to throw everything else out." Annie explained as she admired how the ring fit perfectly on her. "I know you probably don't know what to say…but I want to be open with you from now on Armin, I'll tell you anything you want to know about me."

"In your own time." Armin said softly and rested his head on top of hers.

There was more silence for several moments and then Annie spoke once more, "I love you."

Armin raised his head at her words and she turned to look at him properly. Armin watched as her face turned scarlet. His mouth turned upwards into a large smile and he placed a kiss right on the end of her nose.

"I love you too." he didn't think that it was possible but Annie's face turned even redder.

"Y-you're…really cheesy aren't you?" Annie mumbled.

Armin let out an awkward laugh and smiled sheepishly at Annie, the blonde girl returned the smile, and probably for the first time, he was able to see a light shining in her blue eyes.


	18. Chapter 18

"Merry Christmas, Annie." Armin exclaimed upon turning around and seeing Annie at the foot of the stairs.

"What are you wearing?" she asked, eyeing up the most hideous sweater she had seen in her life. A mixture of bright reds and greens and right in the centre was a snowman. It was something only Armin would be caught dead in. Oddly enough, she found it somewhat cute on him. It was a sight she would treasure; after the holiday season was over she was certain things wouldn't be the same. Annie knew she had to make the most of him. Not that she wanted to think about that now. It was Christmas day, after all.

The blond boy's expression dampened as he looked down at the jumper and back up again at Annie, but then his lips twitched up into an unexpected smirk, "Well, at least I'm not still in my pyjamas, like you."

Annie flushed red. She was always late out of bed. She hadn't even bothered to comb her hair either, but it wasn't like he wasn't used to seeing like this by now. "Whatever…" Annie approached Armin who beckoned her to sit on the floor by the tree. The girl sat down and crossed her legs, "Merry Christmas to you too." she finally said. The blonde then looked around, "Where's your grandfather?"

"He's in the kitchen, making something to take around to Eren's later."

"Eren's…? What. Why?" Annie didn't like the sound of this.

"Yeah, my Grandpa and I usually spend Christmas with the Jaegers…Um, I hope you don't mind." Armin knew that Annie probably didn't want to go to Eren's place, but it had been this way for years. After his parents died, Armin had no other family other than his grandfather and Eren's parents had always been a close family friends.

Annie quickly shook her head, "I don't mind." Of course Annie minded, but she wouldn't ruin Christmas for Armin. _Besides,_ the blonde thought, _it seems like he's decided not to hassle me anymore. At least this way he's more tolerable._

Eren had visited Armin's house during the week after finding out that Annie was temporarily staying there with him. He had apologised and been very awkward around her, obviously feeling guilty for his behaviour towards her before knowing the circumstances. Eren and Mikasa had both been informed of what had happened, of course with Annie's permission, and although she wasn't in the slightest comfortable with two people who may as well be strangers knowing her father was an abusive alcoholic who had attempted to kill her, she figured it was the least she could do for Armin. It wouldn't be fair to him if he wasn't allowed to tell his two best friends something that directly affected him and was important. At least she hadn't had to go to school for the last week before Christmas break, so she didn't have to endure facing everyone. Annie wasn't even sure whether or not she'd ever have to face them again. Was she even going to be going back to that school? Social services would let her know her fate soon enough. She only prayed that Armin had a part in her future.

"If you don't want to go, then we can always stay here." Armin smiled warmly and placed a hand over hers.

"No. We'll go to Eren's house like you always do."

"Alright, then. It will be fun, I promise you." the blond beamed. Annie couldn't help but give Armin a smile, he had never broken a promise yet, and so she trusted his word.

"I always remember this one Christmas," Annie began and Armin looked at her intensely, curious to what tale she was about to tell. It was rare Annie spoke openly about herself, even though she had tried to do it more often lately. Her pale blue eyes turned distant for a moment as if she was looking into the past, the smile was still present on her face, however it seemed to turn more bitter sweet. "My mom had tried so hard to give us a proper Christmas, you know with a nice meal and all. My dad was never fussed about it, and being a young kid I didn't care as long as I got a few presents. Anyway, everything went wrong and the turkey ended up blowing up our oven. I couldn't stop laughing, even though my mom had cried. She did join in laughing with me about it afterwards, though. In the end we ended up eating pizza."

"That sounds really crazy." Armin let out a laugh.

"Yeah, it was always like that. It's sort of a sad because my mom was such a perfectionist. She always wanted me to be perfect. I don't think I ever impressed her, I wasn't really an ideal daughter for her…" Annie's eyes were suddenly on the floor and Armin knew thinking about this upset her deeply.

"Annie, I'm sure you made her really proud. Especially since you took care of her when she was ill, I'm positive she noticed how strong you were throughout that ordeal." Was it even Armin's place to say any of this? He had no idea what Annie had gone through, or her mother for that matter. He could only imagine it must have been hell, and he hated the idea that Annie seemed to feel inadequate or like she hadn't been a good enough daughter.

"She let me know how thankful she was. But there is just no way of bringing back those lost years. I could have gone to ballet classes like she had wanted, or let her play with my hair for longer, or wore that dress she bought me for my birthday more often…instead, I spent most my time with my father, doing what he wanted me to do. I really regret it."

Armin was lost for words, even though Annie had definitely been more open with him in the time that she had spent at his home, she had never spilled her heart out like this. He had no idea how to respond to make her feel any better. "You were only a kid back then, you shouldn't have any regrets. How were you to know how things would turn out? Not only that, you can't change who you are for anyone. I think your mom would be glad that you stuck to being yourself. You're really amazing and strong…be proud of yourself."

"I'm sorry for talking about this now, it's Christmas…" Annie mumbled, suddenly feeling guilty.

Armin shook his head, "Don't be." there was a pause for several moments and then the boy spoke again, "But, you know…you're right, it is Christmas, and I've got you a little something…" a smile formed on Armin's face as he turned around to grab a parcel from under the tree.

Annie's eyes widened for a brief moment, and she took the gift from his hands. The blonde then proceeded to unwrap it, and was slightly surprised that Armin had gone to the trouble. Then again, she knew the boy well enough by now to expect this. When she finally discarded the paper, she took out a pale blue hat with a bobble on the top and a pure white scarf. Annie looked to Armin who hadn't stopped smiling the entire time, "You're so thoughtful. Thank you so much." Annie then placed a brief, light kiss on Armin's cheek.

"I noticed you never had a hat or scarf on you, and I know how much you hate the cold." Armin was glowing.

"I _loathe_ it." she chuckled, but then her blue eyes fell on Armin's again, "…I'm sorry I wasn't able to get you anything." Armin simply shook his head with kind eyes, not expecting anything from her. It was then that Annie had a sudden and strong urge to kiss him. Without further thought, she pressed her lips against his.

Armin was surprised at first, even though it wasn't like they hadn't had a couple of making-out sessions while she had been staying with him. However, this time was undoubtedly the most passionate Annie had ever been.

She scooted forward onto his lap while one arm wrapped around his neck and the other met the back of his head. Her tongue had already found its way into his mouth as her fingers tangled in his blond locks. Annie kissed him almost ravenously while Armin eagerly returned her enthusiasm, he could feel his face burning up and his hands began to wander, finally resting around Annie's waist. When Annie bit his lip for a second time, he was sure it had been intentional and the action had caused him to make a sound that came from deep within his throat. In response, Annie only tightened her grip on his hair.

Armin wasn't exactly even sure how he was able to think straight in a situation like this, but all that was on his mind was how unbelievable it was. How against all odds, he had the girl of his dreams in his lap, in his home, kissing him. The girl who had been so closed off and abrupt with him the first day they had met in homeroom, the girl who was undeniably broken and hid behind a wall, the girl who was extremely intimidating despite everything and also highly mysterious. She had been suffering for such a long time, she was so strong but there was a limit to what she could take, and _he_ was the one who was there to make everything better, to act as the hero, to try and help her put her life back together. In the end, Armin was just beyond glad that she had decided to accept _his_ help. He didn't even want to think what could have happened if he had turned a blind eye on her, but it was quite impossible to do that to someone like Annie, he had found himself drawn to her from day one, and he literally couldn't keep his eyes off of her.

When Annie finally broke away, she stared at him deeply for several seconds. Both their breathing was heavy, and the blonde leaned her head against his chest, feeling his heart race. After several moments like that, she regained her breath and was able to speak, "I hope I was able to make it up to you for not getting you a present."

Armin wrapped his arms around her back, "You definitely did."

* * *

"Merry Christmas!" Eren bellowed in Armin's ear as he stepped inside. Mikasa was to the side of Eren and she gave Armin a nod while repeating the same phrase again. Both of them were wearing similar sweaters to Armin and Annie soon realised it must have been some kind of tradition for the three of them to wear these type of things on Christmas.

Annie stood beside Armin, and his grandfather stood slightly behind the pair. "You too, Annie." Eren added, feeling strange that she was with him. The boy couldn't help but find it weird that Armin even had a girlfriend, and the fact that she was now living with him was even crazier. Then again, he had to remind himself of the circumstances, not that he could really forget. He had to be sensitive, and Mikasa had really enforced that to him earlier on.

After greeting Armin's grandfather as well, Eren's father met up with the man and they headed into the kitchen to help prepare the meal. Eren's mother Carla would have been angry if she didn't get any help, and although Eren knew this too, he still didn't bother to join them in the kitchen to help out. Instead he had other ideas.

"Armin, do you want to check out the PS4 I got for Christmas?" Eren was as eager as ever, he was like an excited little kid. How old was he again, ten? Annie didn't have an interest in games, but perhaps Armin did? His face had lit up just a bit at Eren's request. The girl only wanted Armin's happiness, that's all she really cared about now, so she decided she wouldn't complain. She'd go along with whatever Armin wanted.

"Sure." Armin smiled but then looked to Annie as if he was looking for her approval, but she remained silent.

Mikasa's eyes travelled down to the small blonde girl, knowing full well she had little interest in the PS4, "Do you want to help me set up the table? My mom will be grateful."

Annie simply nodded, and at that, Eren pulled Armin upstairs to his room.

"I don't know what it is with Eren and video games." Mikasa let out a sigh.

Annie just looked at the darker haired girl with a blank expression. She didn't really know what to say, she was well out of her comfort zone. She was here for Armin, but she guessed she could try and enjoy Christmas, too. After all, if Armin had not saved her from her disastrous life, she'd probably most likely be spending Christmas locked in her bedroom or the bathroom, while her father drowned himself in endless amounts of alcohol, that, or she could have been dead.

"Are you okay?" Mikasa questioned, her face portrayed little emotion as usual, but the fact that she had asked the question must have meant that she cared.

"I couldn't be happier." The blonde replied truthfully.

"Eren was really worried after he heard about what had happened. He also feels extremely guilty for the way he treated you—"

"It's fine. I'm fine. We don't have to talk about it, and I would rather you didn't bring it up."

"Okay." Mikasa's face was stoic as ever. Who knew if she even really cared, but it seemed like maybe she did after all.

The two proceeded to set the table in silence, but it wasn't really all that awkward. Annie wondered whether or not Eren's parents had been filled in on the situation, they may have wanted an explanation to why a stranger was staying with their son's best friend. Annie hoped they didn't, but she didn't really care; she highly doubted they would bring it up today, anyways.

"So…how are things with Armin?" Mikasa suddenly enquired and Annie looked up into her black eyes for a brief moment. It looked like she had genuine interest, and Annie knew it would be rude to tell her that it was none of her business. If she was Armin's girlfriend, she knew that that meant accepting his best friends and being civil with them.

"Good." Annie stated rather bluntly.

"Do you sleep in his room?"

Annie turned to Mikasa abruptly, her face immediately turned beet red. _What the actual hell._ She wondered if the girl was joking around with her or not. "N-no. I sleep in the spare bedroom." _Dammit_ , the blonde mentally cursed herself for stuttering.

"Oh yeah, I forgot that there is a spare room at Armin's house." Was that a smile on the Asian girl's face?

"Of course there is." Annie murmured and looked down to the table to try and hide her red face.

"Well it's just that, you two are a couple now, right?"

Annie wasn't sure how much more of this she could take, "Yes we are." She glared at the girl, thinking that she was being out of order for bringing something like this up. Heck, she barely knew her. She had no right.

Mikasa's eyes were gleaming despite her face remaining blank, Annie hadn't pin pointed Mikasa as the type of girl who liked to joke around, and she had the feeling that she wasn't really kidding in the first place, she was just being nosy.

"Eren, get down stairs! You have guests for crying out loud! And Christmas dinner is ready!" Eren's mother's voice shook the house with her sudden outburst. Annie was relieved it was enough to break the conversation completely. Soon after, Eren and Armin could be heard thudding down the stairs. Carla Jaeger then turned to Annie, "Oh hey, dear. You must be Annie?" Annie simply nodded in response. "And you're now staying at Armin's I hear?"

"Only until other arrangements can be made."

"Oh, I see. From what I've heard, Armin is quite crazy about you." Miss Jaeger smiled and Annie's whole face flushed red. She felt disturbed that the woman knew _this_ much; it really showed how close of a family friend the Jaegers were to Armin and his grandfather. How was she to respond to this though? She had no clue, so she decided to remain silent. Thankfully, before it got too uncomfortable, Eren and Armin appeared. "Right, you two can help bring the food in."

* * *

After everyone had settled down at the table, Annie felt much more comfortable. Armin was back at her side and the Jaegers seemed like decent people. Eren was behaving himself, and Mikasa had stopped with the way-too-personal questions.

"Are you enjoying the food? Eren's mom is a really good cook, I think." Armin addressed Annie.

"Yeah it's really nice." Eren's mother really was a talented cook, Annie wasn't sure she had ever had a meal as good as this.

"After dinner we usually all play a game of some kind, it will either be monopoly or we'll have a quiz. Maybe it will be both." he explained.

Annie's lips curved up into a smile, "If we're having a quiz, you and I are going to be in the same team. You're smart, we'll definitely win."

Armin couldn't help but laugh, "Oh okay, but I can't be sure that we will win because of me…"

"Quit being so modest."

"But quizzes have multiple categories, and I'm not good at _all_ of them."

"Oh," Annie bit her lip, "What are your weaknesses, then?"

"Anything to do with TV shows or celebrities…"

"You really are a nerd aren't you?" Annie smiled to herself and Armin blushed lightly.

"Y-yeah I guess."

"I'm joking Armin. Well, maybe you _are_ a nerd but I find that…cute."

"I find you cuter." he added quickly and Annie's face tinged pink.

"Hey Annie. I don't mean to interrupt you two, but, did Armin propose to you?" Eren smirked and the question caused the blonde to raise an eye-brow, wondering what on earth he was even on about. "The ring…" Eren's turquoise eyes trailed down and fell upon the silver piece of jewellery.

"It's my mother's." Annie rolled her eyes and looked back down to her dinner. Eren's stupid question had caused Armin to become flustered even though Annie hadn't been affected. Though, the question did make her start to imagine Armin proposing to her and being married and she couldn't help but like idea. "Besides, why don't you use your brain? We're only sixteen. Not to mention the ring isn't even on the correct finger" Annie turned to look up at the brunet boy again and dead-panned.

"Oh…right sorry." Eren laughed awkwardly, not realising that the ring was a bit of a sensitive subject in the first place.

Armin knew damn well that Eren had only asked the question to embarrass him in the first place, and he silently vowed to himself that he would get Eren back later by winning all the games. Losing always angered the fiercely competitive boy, and what a shame it was that Eren often did lose against Armin in games that did not involve physical activity, simply because he was just too impulsive and did not stop to think, whereas Armin did.

* * *

In the end, Mikasa ended up winning the game of monopoly. It had started out quite well for Armin, but he knew it was all over when Mikasa had decided to play her usual little game which involved not owning any valuable property, but instead making sure that she had a piece of property under every colour and refusing to trade with anybody. There had been a sly glint shimmering in her black eyes and a small smile on her face the entire time. Eren had got tired of her ruse and tried to cheat but was caught out, and Annie quitted about an hour in after working out where it was going and simply could no longer be bothered to participate. Of course Armin had won the quiz for Annie and his grandfather who were in a team against Eren, Mikasa, and his parents.

Annie couldn't deny she was having fun when it seemed like Eren was almost throwing a tantrum after losing at everything, but the Christmas spirit had been too strong for the boy to get too angry. Later in the evening, everybody had some hot chocolate and Christmas cookies that Carla Jaeger and Mikasa had made earlier on that day, they then all settled in the living room.

Annie found herself snuggled beside Armin, and by this point she was pretty tired and could barely keep her eyes open. Perhaps it was because of all the social interaction she had engaged in today, she wasn't used to it after all.

"How are you feeling?" Armin whispered into her ear, causing her drooping eyes to open a little wider.

All of the adults were engaged in conversation, and Eren was playing Dance Dance Revolution, taking it in turns with Mikasa. Armin had had a couple of turns but once Annie had rested against him, he didn't exactly feel like moving from the spot again.

"I'm fine, just tired." She moved even closer to Armin, brushing her nose against his arm and almost burying her face completely into his side. "Wow Armin, you smell so good." _Shit I'm so tired. I wouldn't normally say something like that,_ Annie thought while beginning to feel embarrassed.

"Thanks." Armin smiled, his body temperature increasing. It seemed every time the blonde ever dropped him a compliment he would suffer from the same reaction.

"Hey, Annie do you want to have another turn? You only had one go after all." Eren asked and Annie shook her head, not wanting to leave Armin's side now, not only that, but her ankle was still somewhat sensitive from a few weeks back.

"Ok then, suit yourself." Eren turned around again and played another round.

Annie closed her eyes after a few moments and Armin stared at her, admiring her features like he always did every time he was this close to her. _It seems like she's enjoyed herself, or at least I really hope so. I wouldn't want to break my promise to her._ Armin was terribly tempted to give Annie a kiss, but he wondered if it was wrong to do so without her permission. The boy wasn't even sure if she was asleep or not, _I'm sure she won't mind,_ Armin kept telling himself that as he leaned closer and planted light kiss on her forehead.

Although Annie didn't react or let on that she had felt his lips on her skin, the girl had felt a warm wave of happiness wash over her. She was overwhelmed by the feeling of love and comfort, and despite her mind not even functioning currently by this point due to being so tired, there was one thing she was absolutely positive: she never wanted to leave Armin's side ever again.


	19. Chapter 19

Annie was never one to make a New Year's resolution. Like a lot of things in life, she thought the idea of it was pointless. Most people never kept theirs, and she was the same. _What_ _'_ _s the point in setting yourself up for failure at the beginning of a new year?_ She had thought. However, upon being asked by Armin if she had one — who was sitting so closely beside her in the living room on New Year's Day, Annie couldn't help but give him a proper response.

"I was thinking of taking up Judo again. Only after my ankle has fully recovered though." Annie spoke, thinking back at the sport she enjoyed so much. It was only fair that she responded with something more than, _"_ _I think they_ _'_ _re stupid_ _"_ _,_ because Armin deserved more than that. She couldn't disappoint him, especially looking into his wide-eyes and at the smile that was plastered across his innocent face. It never failed to surprise Annie at how interested Armin was by her, because she had never thought of herself as an interesting person. In fact, the blonde had considered herself to be incredibly boring, but it appeared that Armin had a completely different view, and it made her feel special for once in her life.

"Oh, that's really cool, Annie. I'm happy that you want to pursue it." Armin smiled and moved to brush a strand of hair behind Annie's ear; he then scooted even closer to her. Annie knew she'd have to get used to how tactile Armin was.

"What about you?" she asked, wondering what type of resolution he had in mind.

"I want to make sure I get to the beach this summer. With you, actually." Armin grabbed Annie's hand and squeezed.

"You love the ocean, right?"

"Yeah, but that's not the only reason I want to visit the coast. I'm sixteen now, ever since I was a kid I wanted to see the world, you know. I've spent all my summers here; I've spent my whole life here in fact. I was even born in this very house. I just want to live life like my parents did, even if it's just getting to the beach, it would still be seeing some of the world."

The blonde girl nodded, thinking about Armin's words and then asked, "Do you miss them?" She instantly regretted it. _Stupid question._

"Yes, I do…" Armin paused for a while, "It took me a long time to realise they weren't coming back."

"What do you mean?"

"They were supposed to go on a trip; I think it was to visit some kind of exhibition. The car accident happened on the way to the airport. I just remember them saying their goodbyes as if they would be returning, but they never did. I didn't grasp the concept of death for some time, and so I just believed they left me. My grandpa only said that they wouldn't be coming back, and then there was the funeral…" Armin swallowed after his throat started to become dry, "I used to go into my mom's wardrobe and just sit in there and smell her clothes, and then I'd start crying and eventually fall asleep in there. It really worried my grandpa the first time I did that, because it took him two hours to find me."

"...I'm sorry I dismissed you that time, we both know the pain of losing someone close to us and it was wrong of me." Annie frowned, still feeling terrible over the incident that had occurred more than a month ago now. She wished she could just take back those words that must have cut through him like a knife, _"_ _Don't start feeling sorry for me, okay? I only told you so that you would shut the fuck up. And don't start thinking we are the same, either. Your parents died in a car crash. My mother had cancer."_

"It's fine. Really, you don't need to apologise again about that. I already forgave you."

"I wasn't thinking straight back then, but even that's not an excuse." She muttered, looking downwards.

"I know, I know. Please don't hate yourself for it."

Armin placed a kiss on top of Annie's head and rested his on top of hers. The two seemed to run out of words for the time being, and instead of talking, they just gazed at the television screen. Not that either of them were really paying it much attention. It was then that Annie's thoughts started running wild again, she started reflecting back on all that had occurred in the last few weeks, and how drastically her life had changed. Her mind then went over Christmas, and she couldn't help but feel a strange warmth inside.

The blonde could safely say that she had had one of the best Christmases in her life. Even despite spending it with people she didn't know all too well, they had made her feel welcome and accepted. It was a completely new experience for her, to have a boyfriend, to have people who she could maybe call friends, people who treated her with more care than her own flesh and blood. To think that she could have been spending the holiday season with her father who had done nothing but destroy her, or the fact that she could be dead right now made her feel beyond thankful for Armin.

She didn't even know if she would ever be able to fully show grateful she really was. Would she even get the chance? Annie knew that she would have to sort things out soon, after all, in a few days time school would start again. She hadn't worried much last night; it had been a very pleasant and relaxed New Year's Eve. Armin thought it would be nice to spend it with Annie and his grandfather alone and instead of going out, they all stayed indoors and watched the fireworks going off outside from the window.

All the while Armin hadn't really shown a care in the world, whether or not that was how he truly felt, Annie did not know. Knowing Armin, he probably was thinking of the future, but she didn't dare bring up social services or anything concerning her. Annie had tried to ignore the thoughts nagging at the back of her mind. She knew what she wanted. If she could have it her way, all she really wanted was to be able to stay here with Armin, even though it seemed unlikely to work out that way.

Shaking those thoughts from her mind once more, Annie decided to distract herself. There was _something_ else that had been pressing on her mind, something she wanted to find out.

"Armin, can I ask you something?"

The blond boy was thankful that Annie had decided to speak up, the movie on the television was rather dull and he would much rather talk again. He leaned forward slightly, trying his best to not disturb the position they were in and turned the television off.

"Sure, what is it?"

"I was wondering…what made you so interested in me in the first place?" there was never really an explanation to why, and Annie had been curious. Nobody else had ever paid that much attention to her before, and those who had tried to get to know her in the past had been put off by her anti-social attitude and had said she was intimidating.

"Oh…" Armin's face tinged pink, "You might think I'm weird if I tell you." He let out a soft but awkward laugh that Annie thought was cute.

"No I won't." she said quickly, looking up to meet his eyes, desperate for him to talk. She knew that he was shy, and she really hoped he would tell her. Why _her_ of all people, would attract someone as sweet as him?

Armin rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and ran a hand through his hair, "W-when I first saw you I thought that you were really pretty. But it was way more than just your appearance that made me attracted to you. I was kind of intimidated by you too, if I'm going to be completely honest. But, I had a feeling right from the very beginning that there was just so much more to you, and I was right. I couldn't help but fall harder for you every time you opened up a little. You were like a mystery at first, and I tried to analyse every detail about you…uh I'm sorry…" the boy became flustered, admitting all of this to Annie made him sound like some kind of creep in his opinion, and he didn't want to scare or offend her.

"Please continue." Annie prompted, not fazed by what Armin had said.

"Okay…well, I had never really felt that way about anyone in my life. I just wanted to know everything about you, I wanted to see what was behind that wall you put up, and more than anything I wanted to be your friend. Every time you pushed me away, I felt the need to get closer. Also, I want you to know that I never once pitied you; I just wanted to help you. I wanted to see your beautiful smile more. You hid all of your troubles away so well, you're such a lion hearted girl…I kind of love that trait of yours. It's admirable."

Annie felt a warm blush flood her cheeks, feeling somewhat overwhelmed by what all Armin had just said. She never imagined someone would be so attracted to her, or would care about her so much. She was nothing special in her opinion, but to Armin, it was as if she was the most fascinating person in the world.

"I'm glad. I'm happy you didn't give up on me, even though I'm a difficult person…" the blonde finally said after a couple moments of quietness.

"I wouldn't ever give up on you. I love you." Armin placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"I love you too." she almost whispered, even though she had accepted the fact that she did love Armin, it still felt strange to say it out loud. Annie was never one to show much affection, it was something that did not come naturally to her. However, with Armin, who was affectionate, she couldn't help but try and open up for him. Maybe this was just another side to her. The boy really did bring out the best in her. Thanks to Armin, she was able to feel again, she didn't think she would ever really recover from her past. It was certain that she wouldn't have been able to do it without him.

The couple didn't say anything, and instead quietly enjoyed being in each other's embrace. Annie's fingers started to trace over Armin's bear arms and she observed his skin tone was slightly darker than her own, even though he was still relatively pale. She saw how goose bumps formed across his arms as her light and delicate touch continued to glide over the skin. Annie wasn't even exactly sure what she was doing, but she enjoyed doing it. That was until she saw the underside of his arm where the skin was naturally paler than on top.

She suddenly grabbed hold of Armin's wrist so that he was unable to cover anything up, "What the hell is this?" her voice was angry. Annie hadn't meant to sound so angry. She should have been compassionate, he was always so gentle with her, and he deserved only the same treatment back. However, she had been unable to control the outburst. Not that the anger was exactly directed at him, but more to the reason why there was a good number of fading scars on his wrists. Annie was no fool and she knew that he had inflicted these upon himself.

Of course Armin's instant reaction was to try and retract his arm away from her, to break free from her hold and hide away. It was humiliating; he didn't want her to see how weak he really was. It wasn't an option though, because she had him in her firm grasp. He had no choice but to explain, and after thinking about it for a few moments, he deemed it only fair that he tell her. After all, she had spilled her whole heart and soul to him.

For some reason though, Armin just couldn't look her in the eye. Maybe it was because he felt pathetic, pathetic that he had done something so stupid only because of what some imbeciles in the school had told him and done to him. Yes, they had shoved him into lockers and bruised him, and yes they had called him all the names under the sun and made him feel completely and utterly worthless, but, he had bought into it. He believed what they said about him and that's why he had done this to himself.

"Armin…" Annie's voice snapped him away from the flashbacks. She didn't sound angry anymore, her voice was soft, and he dared himself to look her in the eye. When his large eyes met hers, he saw something he had only seen once before; her usually disinterested eyes were burning with a mixture of emotions, anger, sadness and confusion. The grasp on his arm loosened but she didn't let go. Annie continued to stare right into his eyes, as if demanding an explanation.

"I'm sorry." Armin whispered.

"Why are you saying sorry?" she glowered.

"I…I don't even know" his eyes fell to his lap.

"Why would you do this to yourself…?" was that sadness in her voice?

"It was just…" Armin paused, taking in a breath. _How do I explain all of this without sounding like a complete loser?_

Annie wasn't sure how to react now. Her heart was heavy in her chest at the sight of Armin like this. Her pale fingers brushed the spot on his wrist in a soothing manner, mimicking the times Armin had done something similar in an attempt to comfort her.

Feeling her touch on his scarred skin, Armin felt a little better and exhaled the breath he had taken in, "When I started high school, I got bullied. That wasn't anything new…I've been picked on all of my life, Eren and Mikasa always had to come and save me. I'm sure you can understand why, I mean, I look like an easy target right? Pathetic and useless…" Armin let out a false, bitter laugh and Annie shook her head.

"Cut that attitude out right now." She snapped, her tone turning angry again.

Armin's eyes widened, "O-okay. S-sorry…"

The blonde simply shook her head again, "I'll kick their ass. Who did it?"

"H-huh? Oh…they've all left, thank god."

"Are you lying? I'm serious. I'll beat the shit out of them, Armin."

"N-no, I'm not lying. They were older than me. The ones who didn't drop out of their own accord were kicked out after trying to set a classroom on fire. Well at least, that's the rumour I heard, and I didn't see them around anymore…"

"Well, lucky for them." Annie muttered. She was glaring at a cushion, obviously taking out her frustration on it, like he'd seen her do before to inanimate objects. Armin didn't speak for a moment and fidgeted in his seat.

"Eren and Mikasa were really great friends to me though, well they still are. They've always been. They helped me realise that I _am_ worth something."

Annie stared at Armin, feeling anger and sadness swirling inside of her. He didn't deserve to endure any of that. She figured that this explained why Eren and Mikasa had seemed to be so protective of Armin; they had treated her like the bad guy, but really it was all for Armin's sake rather than to make her feel like shit.

"I'm…glad you realised it. Otherwise I'd have to pulverise you into believing it."

Armin's head shot up to look at Annie's face, "W-what?"

"That was my idea of a crappy joke." _Shit, I'm really insensitive._ "But, it's true. I never want to hear you say anything along those lines again. You saved me Armin, there's no way you are worthless or useless."

Armin nodded, and placed a kiss on Annie's cheek. "Thanks." he said quietly.

Their eyes met for a long moment, and then Annie spoke again. "I want to stay here with you." the words sort of tumbled from her mouth unexpectedly. She supposed that she really needed to start being open from the start rather than bottling her thoughts and feelings up, because it always seemed to get to a point where they would overflow. Annie knew she would end up going into foster care and god only knew when she would actually get fostered by someone. As much as she had tried to not think of it over Christmas, she just couldn't help it. She wanted to stay here, with Armin, in his home. She knew it was unfair though, it was a burden on Armin's grandfather.

"I…I want that too, more than anything." Armin took hold of Annie's hand tightly.

"But it's impossible, isn't it?" Annie said bitterly.

"Why is it?"

"Oh come on, Armin. You're the smart one. Do you really think your grandfather can support me as well? It's unfair on him. He'd have to foster me and claim all responsibility…"

"I can talk to him. We can work something out." Armin stated firmly, the determination in his eyes was somehow comforting, but she didn't want to get her hopes up.

* * *

When school started again a few days later, Annie once again pushed everything to the back of her mind. It seemed like people had forgotten about the scene she had caused a few weeks back, but that was expected. It was old news right?

She had told herself that she wouldn't give anyone the time of day if they questioned her about it, but luckily for her, most people ignored her as usual. That was with the exception of Eren, Mikasa, Bertholdt and Reiner, who still seemed to insist on bugging her whenever he saw her, Bertholdt never usually spoke directly to her but always seemed to accompany the former. Christa also approached her for the first time, asking her if she was okay which she found slightly odd but answered her nonetheless. Annie didn't really mind all that much, because being in the company of others was much easier than it was before. Before, she was always hiding something, and anything she found remotely irritating was heightened because of what she was dealing with at home. Of course, there was always one person that still managed to annoy her though...

"No holding hands in the hallways!" Eren shouted from behind, obviously fooling around.

Armin let out a laugh and Annie just rolled her eyes, it had been Armin's idea in the first place, he was always so open with his affection, she would have much rather kept the whole thing private to prevent idle gossip.

"You can't say that. Annie's knows Judo…she can kick your ass." Armin retorted in response to his friend's banter. Annie watched as Eren's facial expression changed into one of genuine interest.

"Really?" the small blonde just nodded in response, "That's pretty cool. Can you teach me sometime?"

"Sure…I guess." Annie wondered why she had just agreed to something like this, but, in honesty, she really didn't mind. Eren's turquoise eyes lit up, and it was then that Annie noticed Mikasa standing firmly at Eren's side, "I can show you, too, if you want." She decided to add, and hell if she knew why. She figured it was the type of thing friends do for each other. _Are they really people I can call friends?_ Annie thought to herself and quickly came to the conclusion that yes, she supposed she could call them that.

Mikasa's eyes widened for a brief moment, obviously surprised by Annie's gesture, "Sounds interesting." she said, which was saying something for the usually disinterested girl.

Annie shrugged and then Armin tugged at her hand, "We're all going to be late for class. I'll see you at lunch."

"You're always so anxious about being late." Annie mumbled.

"Tell me about it." Eren added.

"W-well yeah, I don't want to get into trouble…"

"Of course. We really should get going; we can see each other at lunch." Mikasa spoke.

"Alright, I guess I'll see you all at lunch then" Eren finally said and waved at Armin and Annie as him and Mikasa both made their way to class in a different direction.

* * *

The day seemed to pass by relatively quickly as far as Annie was concerned; she seemed to be caught up with Armin, Eren and Mikasa for much of the time when she was not in class, so she didn't get the chance to think much, which she was thankful for.

When the bell rang signalling the end of the day, she made her way abruptly out of class and hurried to the school gate where Armin said he would be waiting for her so they could walk back together. It was a shame that this semester they didn't share all the same classes, like in the previous.

"There you are!" Armin exclaimed hurriedly when she finally got to the gate. There seemed to be an urgent look in his blue eyes, Annie hadn't realised she had kept him waiting _that_ long.

"Hey?"

"I just got a call from my grandpa, he said that the social worker turned up and wants to speak with us."

"Oh." Annie felt a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach, "I don't really want to talk with them."

"I know, but you don't have a choice. It will be okay, I talked to my grandfather, remember?" Armin gave the blonde girl a warm smile; his smile always managed to cheer her up somewhat and she gave him a nod.

Although Armin was nervous about the social worker coming by, he felt much more at ease after the discussion he had had with his grandfather about letting Annie stay.

" _She has nowhere else to go, and, I would really like it if she could stay here with us. She wants too as well. Annie needs some stability in her life after all that's happened, and I really, really don't want her to have to go into foster care…"_

" _I understand, Armin. Well, financially, it wouldn't really be a problem. After all, she can work in the bookshop."_

" _So you would let her stay?"_

" _Of course, the poor girl has been through enough…and I see the way you look at her."_

_At his grandfather's words, Armin's face flushed red, "What do you mean?" he asked with shock in his tone._

" _You look at her the same way your father used to look at your mother."_

" _I…do?" was all the blond boy could say in response._

" _Yes, I've noticed how much you're in love with her. I think it's wonderful, young kids like you being so in love, makes an old man like me feel warm and fuzzy inside. But, let me make myself clear, Armin. I don't want any great-grandchildren just yet."_

" _O-okay...I get the message." Armin burned red at the sheer awkwardness of what his grandfather was implying._

" _Haha, I'm only joking, I know you are good kids."_

Trying to permanently forget the last line and focusing on the rest of the conversation, Armin was sure things would go well. Everything would turn out okay. They only had to talk to the social worker now.

"You look so cute with that hat on." Armin said, trying to distract Annie and keeping things positive. Not that he was making it up, the hat really did look cute on her.

"Thanks, I'm grateful for it. Now I don't have to freeze to death every time I step outside." Armin let out a laugh, but he knew that she was only half joking about that, since she hated the cold weather so much.

When they reached the door of the house, it opened before Armin could put the key into the lock. His grandfather must have seen them coming by from the window. "There you kids are, I just gave the social worker a cup of coffee. She'll want to speak to you now, Annie." He said, while beckoning them inside quickly.

Annie felt sick to her stomach and she wasn't even exactly sure why, things looked pretty good for her. Yet, she was still anxious. She couldn't stand the thought of being all alone again.

"Hey, Annie it will be okay. The social worker is probably really nice, they usually are." Armin looked at her, reading her and could tell she was worried. He smiled at her softly. The blonde just nodded in agreement, and after removing their outer garments and shoes, they made their way into the living room.

"Hello, Annie, Armin." A woman introduced and extended her hand out for them both to shake. Armin responded to the social worker first, and Annie followed suit.

"Hello." Armin replied, and Annie mimicked him, but in a considerably more quiet and hostile tone.

The pair sat down, and the social worker spoke up again — deciding to get straight to the point, "Now I understand Mr Arlert wants to foster you. I want to know what you think, Annie. Is this what you want?"

The blonde nodded, "Yes." there was nothing much else to say, Annie would rather be blunt and make herself clear straight away.

"Are you happy, Annie?"

"I am. More than I have been in a long while." Annie shifted slightly in her seat.

"I'm very glad to hear that. Now I've discussed things with Mr Arlert, and he is a very nice man and indeed a suitable guardian for you. We just had to make sure that this is what _you_ want, you're what matters."

"I want to stay here, that's all I want really…" she said quietly and looked to Armin who smiled at her. Surely it was obvious to this woman that Annie had nowhere else to go and clearly wanted to stay here?

"Alright." the woman looked through some papers that were sitting in her lap and then back up at Annie, "It seems like everything is fine. We'll just have to go through some of the official documentation and such. It shouldn't take too long."

"That's great!" Armin spoke up.

The social worker simply smiled, "Before I leave, is there any other way I can be of help to you, Annie? If you feel like you need it, would a few sessions with a counsellor help at all?"

"No I'm fine." Annie said sharply, she didn't need a counsellor, she had Armin, and he was more than enough.

"Okay then." The social worker smiled once more and gathered her paperwork, then stood from the seat. "I'm happy to hear you're doing so well. You're a very strong young woman." The blonde girl simply nodded in response, and let out a breath as the social worker walked out.

"That was surprisingly simple…" she mumbled to Armin who suddenly wrapped his arms around her frame.

"I'm so happy" his voice was close to her ear, and Annie felt herself tingle all over. It hit her then that it was officially all over, she could stay with Armin. She wouldn't have to worry about being alone again.

"Me too." she managed to whisper back, while returning Armin's embrace but much stronger and tighter than his gentle hold.

"You two kids alright?" Armin's grandfather entered the room and sat down.

The two released each other almost immediately, "Never better." Armin said with a huge grin.

"Thank you so much." Annie said quietly but firmly.

"Not to worry dear, everything will be okay now."

Annie swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat from all the emotion she felt and smiled, nodding her head, realising that everything really was going to be okay. Of course, forgetting what her father had done would be impossible, and the fact that she had lost her mother would always stay with her, but that did not mean she couldn't be happy. The loss had left a huge hole in her life, but Armin had mended that hole; at least, enough to enable her to enjoy her life again.

_Armin really has, in literally every way that it's possible, fixed me._

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry I took forever to update the last chapter, but I was away for 2 weeks. Not only that, I found it quite difficult to write this chapter because I desperately didn't want it to seem rushed and I was thinking of all the ways I could end it nicely. I really hope I did good and met your expectations. I enjoyed writing this fic a lot but I guess all things must come to an end and I thought now was the right time. If you really enjoyed this fic, then don't worry, I have more multi-chaptered Aruani fics planned for the near future. Anyway, I'd like to thank everyone that read from start to finish and to those who left reviews - it means so much! Thank you.


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